{"id":9359,"date":"2025-07-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=9359"},"modified":"2025-07-10T18:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T23:18:07","slug":"the-trouble-with-truth-is-what-it-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/the-trouble-with-truth-is-what-it-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trouble With Truth Is What It Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 42 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

TV SERIES REVIEW
\nThe Trouble with Tessa (first two episodes)<\/strong>
\n\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Horror, Mystery
\nYear Released:<\/strong> 2025
\nRuntime:<\/strong> 6 x 22m episodes (reviewed first two)
\nDirector(s):<\/strong> Dennis Cahlo, Bethany Watson, Will Rogers, Tony Wash
\nWriter(s):<\/strong> William Rogers, Dennis Cahlo, Bethany Watson
\nCast:<\/strong> Katrin Nugent, Maria Wolf, Casey Hartnett, Alexander Platt, Cory DeAn Cowley, John R. Smith Jr., Taso Mikroulis, Tina Ann Brock, Dennis Cahlo
\nWhere to Watch:<\/strong> debuts with a two-episode premiere on July 15, 2025<\/p>\n

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RAVING REVIEW:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA opens with the eerie quiet of a town that looks just a little too polished. A porch, a welcome, and the kind of friendliness that feels rehearsed. That\u2019s what greets Tessa Fowler\u2014a former documentarian whose credibility is in shambles\u2014when she moves to Lowery looking for peace. What she finds is a half-buried history and a chilling sense that the people around her are playing roles in a much older script.<\/p>\n

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This new Screambox original series uses its modest runtime wisely. With just over 20 minutes per episode, the premiere double-header sets up something that feels much larger than its format implies. Rather than racing through exposition or leaning on overused jump scares, it builds tension the way a good mystery should: by giving you just enough to keep pulling the thread, even when you know what you might find on the other end could be dangerous.<\/p>\n

At the center of it all is Katrin Nugent\u2019s performance as Tessa. There’s something jagged in the way she moves through scenes\u2014like someone still getting used to the shape of their guilt. Tessa isn\u2019t chasing redemption for the camera. She\u2019s searching because she can\u2019t help herself, and Nugent makes her compulsions feel both authentic and troubling. She’s the type of protagonist who doesn’t need to win you over\u2014she just needs to feel real. And she does.<\/p>\n

What makes the early episodes stand out is how confidently they let silence and atmosphere do the heavy lifting. There\u2019s a palpable tension in Lowery, but it’s not because anything overtly supernatural has happened (yet). It’s in the way people look too long, or avoid looking at all. The camera is lingering on old wallpaper, in the brittle smiles from neighbors who seem a little too invested in Tessa\u2019s past. This isn\u2019t horror screaming for your attention. It\u2019s whispering, which can be even more unsettling.<\/p>\n

The premise is nothing new. But THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA doesn’t treat it like a gimmick. Instead, the recordings that are found are handled with a level of restraint and purpose that feels earned. We only see fragments, and the editing leaves plenty of room for doubt. Are we witnessing a crime? A prank? A staged event? The show doesn\u2019t rush to clarify, and that ambiguity becomes its strongest asset. It\u2019s a mystery that isn\u2019t interested in clean answers.<\/p>\n

That said, the show walks a delicate line, and it’s not always perfectly balanced. Tessa\u2019s backstory\u2014a disgraced journalist, now chasing down a story no one asked her to tell\u2014could easily slip into clich\u00e9, and there are moments where the writing teeters dangerously close to that. But what saves it is the sincerity of the execution.<\/p>\n

Dennis Cahlo and Bethany Watson (who both write and direct) clearly understand the core of tension. Their use of the VHS aesthetic isn\u2019t a retro flex\u2014it\u2019s woven into the fabric of the structure. These tapes aren\u2019t just props. They represent a different kind of storytelling, one not made for streaming, but for secrecy. The pacing is deliberate, though that might test some viewers expecting high-octane scares. But it\u2019s a welcome change from horror that confuses volume with impact. THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA aims for a creeping discomfort that settles in slowly and lingers afterward. It doesn\u2019t ask \u201cWhat\u2019s in the basement?\u201d so much as \u201cWhy was it hidden in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n

Visually, the series is stripped-down but effective. Most of it takes place in plain houses, dim hallways, and staring at flickering monitors. This simplicity works in its favor, grounding the story in a world that feels familiar, one where horror could plausibly unfold without anyone noticing. The low-budget approach isn\u2019t a limitation. It\u2019s a stylistic choice that matches the narrative\u2019s scale.<\/p>\n

There are hints that the series will eventually reveal something more grotesque or surreal. That\u2019s really what keeps you hooked; it\u2019s refreshing to watch a horror series that doesn’t immediately resort to body horror or demonic possession as its escalation point. The dread here comes from the slow realization that something about Lowery is deeply wrong, and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Or worse\u2014they already know and don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

As a character study, the show shows early promise in how it frames Tessa\u2019s need for control as both her strength and her downfall. Her obsession with truth isn\u2019t heroic\u2014it\u2019s compulsive, maybe even selfish. And that\u2019s an angle more horror shows could stand to explore. What if the person demanding answers isn\u2019t doing it for justice, but because they can\u2019t live without a story to chase?<\/p>\n

Only the first two episodes have been available to screen so far, but if the rest of the series can maintain this level of restraint and tension, THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA may be something truly special. And if that\u2019s where the story is heading\u2014if Tessa\u2019s digging only reveals a town that prefers its ghosts undisturbed\u2014then the real trouble with Tessa may not be what she finds\u2026 but that she was ever allowed to look.<\/p>\n

Please visit https:\/\/linktr.ee\/overlyhonestr for more reviews.<\/p>\n

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[photo courtesy of SCREAMBOX, CARY ALLEN PRODUCTIONS, CINEVERSE ENTERTAINMENT]<\/em><\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER:<\/strong>
\nAt Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.<\/p>\n

Amazon Affiliate Links:<\/strong>
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TV SERIES REVIEW The Trouble with Tessa (first two episodes) \u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Genre: Horror, Mystery Year Released: 2025 Runtime: 6 x 22m episodes (reviewed first two) Director(s): Dennis Cahlo, Bethany Watson, Will Rogers, Tony Wash Writer(s): William Rogers, Dennis Cahlo, Bethany Watson Cast: Katrin Nugent, Maria Wolf, Casey Hartnett, Alexander Platt, Cory DeAn Cowley, John R. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9361,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9359\/revisions\/9361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}