The Seven Faces of Jane

Movie review by Tara McNamara, Common Sense Media
The Seven Faces of Jane Movie Poster

Common Sense says

age 13+

Vignette collection is more experiment than entertainment.

NR 2023 92 minutes
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  • Still from The Seven Faces of Jane: Gillian Jacobs directs her selves
  • Still from The Seven Faces of Jane: Joel McHale and Gillian Jacobs
  • Still from The Seven Faces of Jane: Gillian Jacobs

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Seven Faces of Jane is an experimental drama about a single mom (Gillian Jacobs) who's driving around Los Angeles while her 8-year-old is at sleepaway camp for the week. Eight different directors worked on the film, each creating their segment without detailed knowledge of what the others were doing (they were given a theme and a few rules and created independent stories). Ford financed the film as a means to highlight their Mustang Mach 3, and the car is heavily featured. While other iffy content is minimal -- there's one use of "s--t," an over-the-top fight, and a kiss or two -- there's quite a bit of surreal content about mature feelings. The younger viewers who are most likely to get something out of the films are teens who are artistic or who've discovered the TV series Community: In one segment, Ken Jeong directs his former castmates Jacobs and Joel McHale, establishing a reunion that will be rewarding for fans.

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What's the Story?

In THE SEVEN FACES OF JANE, Jane (Gillian Jacobs) drops her 8-year-old daughter off at sleepaway camp and goes on her own odyssey of self-exploration. As she drives through the Los Angeles area, she runs into old flames, meets new people, has a spiritual reconnection with a childhood friend, and learns that sometimes life's mundane moments can be rife with new and unusual experiences. The film's segments were written and directed by Jacobs, Julian Acosta, Xan Cassavetes, Gia Coppola, Ryan Heffington, Boma Ilufu, Ken Jeong, and Alex Takacs.

Is It Any Good?

Creative exercises can be rewarding for the participants, but often -- as in this case -- only mildly intriguing for audiences. The "exquisite corpse" game is executed here as an experiment in representation: How do eight unique, diverse perspectives on the same character affect her as a whole? While the answer to that question might offer a takeaway for those in the film industry, there's not much here for most viewers. As you might expect, mixing the work of eight directors and 11 writers makes for a somewhat discombobulated story. Some of Jane's stories jump into alternate realities, some are surreal, and some are honest. Without a doubt, both for Jacobs and the writing and directing talent, this film will be used as a calling card to obtain more work. From a mainstream point of view, Jeong's piece will be the one everyone ends up talking about, as it reunites Community's sometimes-couple Britta (Jacobs) and Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) and includes McHale's most grounded performance to date. Other than that, for most folks, this one isn't a must-see.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the different filmmakers brought their individual life experiences into their vignettes within The Seven Faces of Jane. What does this tell you about the importance of representation behind the lens?

  • The question is posed: "What version of yourself do you want to be?" What does that mean to you? What moment of your life would you identify as "the best version" of yourself? How did others react to you? How did you feel?

  • Which of the chapters of Jane's experience did you connect with, and why? Was it the tone, the storytelling, the style, or something else?

Movie Details

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