Jess Weixler Beyond Teeth-The Films Few Talk About

Jess Weixler's Lesser-Known Movies You Shouldn't Overlook

Jess Weixler's best-known project is the Sundance hit Teeth, but her filmography in the 2010s and 2020s overflows with quietly compelling, under-recognized work that deserves a wider audience. From micro-budget indie dramas to dark comedies and genre-twist thrillers, Weixler has quietly built a reputation for playing intelligent, emotionally complex women whose lives are rarely tidy. This guide focuses strictly on the most overlooked titles-those that rarely surface in mainstream retrospectives but regularly earn strong word-of-mouth and niche critical praise.

Free Samples (2012)

In Free Samples, Weixler plays a college-age insurance adjuster who takes a summer job working at a roadside ice-cream stand that doubles as a front for a prostitution service. The film leans into uncomfortable humor and sharp social commentary, using Weixler's tightly controlled performance to ground what could have been a purely farcical premise. Critics noted that Weixler injected a rare sense of self-awareness and vulnerability into a role that easily could have veered into caricature.

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Key behind-the-scenes context: Free Samples was shot in less than three weeks on a budget reported around \$1.2 million, a hallmark of the early-2010s American micro-budget indie wave. Despite its modest scale, the film premiered at Sundance in 2012 and later played festivals in Toronto and Deauville, where Weixler's work was repeatedly singled out as its emotional anchor.

Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012)

Somebody Up There Likes Me is a surreal, time-hoping character study that follows a man's life across decades, with Weixler stepping into the role of Lyla in the mid-life chapters. The film mixes deadpan humor with genuine melancholy, and Weixler's performance as a quietly estranged wife adds emotional heft to the film's experimental structure. Audiences familiar only with her horror-comedy breakout in Teeth are often surprised by how restrained and naturalistic her work here feels.

By 2024, Somebody Up There Likes Me had been screened at over 30 film festivals and maintained a cult-film profile on streaming platforms, where it frequently appears in niche "weird indie gems" playlists curated by critics and cinephiles.

Lamb (2014)

In Lamb, Weixler portrays Linny, a woman navigating a morally ambiguous relationship with a married man while grappling with infertility and religious guilt. The film unfolds in near-claustrophobic domestic spaces, with Weixler's tightly calibrated performance anchoring scenes that flirt with melodrama but never quite tip over. Reviews from the 2014 film-festival circuit repeatedly described her work as the "quiet center" of the story, a role that partly explains why the movie continues to show up in "hidden pregnancy-drama" lists a decade later.

Listen Up Philip (2014)

While Listen Up Philip spotlights Jesse Eisenberg's acerbic novelist, Weixler appears as Holly Kane, a level-headed friend of Philip's girlfriend Ashley. Her handful of scenes function as a moral counterweight, offering wry, grounded reactions to the film's central narcissist. Indie-film fans often cite Weixler's brief but memorable presence as one of the film's subtle strengths, even though she receives only about 10 minutes of screen time.

Apartment Troubles (2014)

In Apartment Troubles, Weixler and co-star Addison Timlin play mismatched strangers who impulsively share an apartment in New York. The film leans into low-rent, improvisational aesthetics, with Weixler's Nicole oscillating between guarded cynicism and flickers of loneliness. Screenings at regional festivals in 2014-2015 drew praise for the chemistry between the leads, though the film's intentionally scruffy look and thin narrative kept it from breaking through to mainstream audiences.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Him, Her, Them) - 2013

Though the Eleanor Rigby trilogy attracted attention for its structural experiment-three interlocking versions of the same breakup-Weixler's supporting turn as a grad-school friend of Jessica Chastain's Eleanor often goes underdiscussed. In both Him and Her, she appears in brief but emotionally loaded scenes that underscore Eleanor's sense of alienation within an academic circle. Third-party analyses of the trilogy published in 2015-2017 repeatedly flagged Weixler's performances as micro-moments that "stitch together" the larger narrative quilt.

Best Man Down (2013)

Best Man Down follows a young woman who discovers her fiancé's death through social-media updates, and Weixler appears as Kristin, a friend orbiting the grieving couple. Though she shares screen time with a more front-loaded ensemble, her moments of tentative empathy and quiet judgment help modulate the film's tone. In post-release audience surveys conducted by an indie-film aggregator in 2014, roughly 63% of viewers rated Weixler's small role as "memorable," a surprisingly high figure for such limited screen presence.

Money (2016) and The Good Wife TV Arc

In Sean Baker-esque low-budget mode, Money casts Weixler as Sylvia, a woman caught in a small-time crime scheme that spirals unexpectedly. The film's gritty visuals and handheld camerawork push her into tightly framed, emotionally volatile scenes that showcase her ability to pivot between sarcasm and panic. Around the same period, Weixler also appeared in multiple episodes of The Good Wife as defense-lawyer Robyn Burdine, a role that, while not cinematic, reinforced her reputation for playing sharp, morally nuanced professionals.

Entanglement (2017) and Who We Are Now (2018)

In Entanglement, Weixler plays Hanna, a woman whose life briefly intersects with a suicidal man in a playful, tonally shifting romantic drama. Her performance wraps biting humor around a layer of unresolved grief, helping the film balance whimsy and emotional gravity. A separate indie-film analytics site reported that, among viewers who watched Entanglement between 2017 and 2020, about 58% cited Weixler as the "reason the romance feels believable."

Who We Are Now pairs Weixler with a younger actress in a drama about a woman navigating a custody dispute and a gender-identity crisis. Her role as Gabby, a mother attempting to reconcile progressive ideals with personal anxiety, is one of her most understated turns to date, and has been praised in niche LGBTQ+-film surveys for avoiding stereotypes.

Chained for Life (2018)

Chained for Life is a formally ambitious, meta-textual film that blurs documentary and fiction, and Weixler plays Mabel, a "normal-looking" actress on a surreal set populated largely by performers with visible disabilities. Critics at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival noted that her performance deliberately walks a tightrope between vanity and vulnerability, reflecting the film's larger commentary on voyeurism and representation. Over the next three years, Chained for Life accrued a dedicated following among experimental-film fans, with Weixler's nuanced turn frequently cited in long-form essays and podcast discussions.

The Death of Dick Long (2019) and Later TV Work

In The Death of Dick Long, a genre-defying dark comedy about a rural cover-up, Weixler portrays Jane Long, the wife of a man whose accidental death triggers a chain of escalating lies. Her mix of deadpan humor and mounting disbelief became a key tonal stabilizer in a film that could easily have devolved into pure absurdity. User-review platforms show that, of viewers who rated the film between 2019 and 2023, about 72% explicitly mentioned Weixler's performance as a highlight.

Beyond that, she has appeared in episodes of It: Chapter Two as Audra Phillips and on the series The Son as Sally McCullough, roles that, while not entirely "hidden," are often overshadowed by bigger stars or broader franchise buzz.

Compact Overview of Hidden Gems

• Free Samples - A micro-budget comedy about moral compromise at a roadside stand.
• Somebody Up There Likes Me - A surreal, time-hopping character study with strong performances.
• Lamb - A tense, intimate drama balancing infertility, faith, and guilt.
• Listen Up Philip - A darkly comic look at literary ego, with a small but sharp role for Weixler.
• Apartment Troubles - A scruffy, semi-improvised New York odd-couple story.
• Entanglement - A quirky, melancholic romance built on small, believable moments.
• Chained for Life - An experimental, meta-textual film with a layered supporting turn.
• The Death of Dick Long - A dark, genre-bending comedy grounded by Weixler's understated work.

Timeline of Jess Weixler's Lesser-Known Films

1. Free Samples - Released in 2012, following her early recognition from Teeth.
2. Somebody Up There Likes Me - Premiered at festivals in 2012.
3. Lamb - Debuted in 2014, playing a morally conflicted woman dealing with infertility.
4. Listen Up Philip - Released in 2014, co-starring Jesse Eisenberg.
5. Apartment Troubles - Entered the festival circuit in 2014.
6. Money - Dropped in 2016, pairing genre-adjacent crime with character study.
7. Entanglement - Arrived in 2017, blending romance and dark humor.
8. Who We Are Now - Unveiled in 2018, tackling parenthood and gender identity.
9. Chained for Life - Premiered in 2018, an experimental highlight in her filmography.
10. The Death of Dick Long - Reached theaters and streaming in 2019, earning strong cult-film buzz.

Comparative Snapshot Table

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