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Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster) was the secondary villainess of the 2013 film Elysium. She was the Secretary of Defense of the titular space station.

Events[]

Jessica's first appearance in the film (which is set in 2154) had her being informed that three unauthorized shuttles from Earth were approaching Elysium. Overriding Executive Order 355—which prohibited her and her subordinates at Elysium's Department of Defense from using their sleeper agents on Earth—she authorized Agent C.M. Kruger (the film's secondary and eventual final antagonist) to kill everyone aboard the aforementioned shuttles, establishing her manipulative and unfeeling demeanor. While he managed to succeed in shooting down two of the three shuttles, killing 46 people, the last missile missed its target, allowing for the remaining shuttle to land on the space station. The villainess ordered for all of them to be apprehended and deported back to Earth, after which she was summoned to be reviewed by President Patel and his cabinet.

During the examination, the evil politician was called out for the use of a psychologically unstable agent and for not following her mandate of "[dealing] with illegals quietly," only for her to respond by subtly suggesting that Patel is a coward who would cause Elysium's downfall by not going to the lengths she did to protect it from said "illegals." Declaring that it was her final warning, Patel threatened to have her removed from office should he find out about any further unauthorized actions. Furthermore, Kruger was discharged from Elysium's Civil Cooperation Bureau, much to his outrage.

Jessica Delacourt 4

Jessica convincing John to help her in her coup d'état

Seeking to accelerate her ambitious plan for Elysium's future, the malevolent conspirator saw an opportunity in a scheduled meeting she had with Armadyne CEO John Carlyle (the film's tertiary antagonist). Their discussion involved the former convincing the latter to write a reboot sequence that would then allow for her to be encoded as Elysium's new president, reasoning that her coup d'état was necessary because of what she deemed as the presence of a "tumor that [had] to be removed." After he agreed to do as she said, John was informed that his corporation's contracts would be renewed for the next two centuries. The next day, he completed the sequence on Earth and attempted to bring it to his benefactor, only for Max Da Costa (the film's main protagonist) to cause the crash landing of the businessman's shuttle with the help of an explosive device.

Upon learning about what had taken place, Jessica called Kruger and ordered him to rescue John, and he did so in exchange for himself along with two other fellow ex-agents—Crowe and Drake—being reinstated. Additionally, the scheming criminal instructed the trio to capture Max (whose head now contained the program that was once in John's head) so long as his brain was undamaged, along with ordering Los Angeles to be declared as a no-fly zone after John died of cardiac arrest caused by blood loss; she stated that her order would remain in place until his killer was arrested.

Death[]

Finding out that Max was the killer in question and was present aboard Kruger's shuttle (which was to head to Elysium), she had the no-fly zone cancelled, only for said shuttle to become uncontrollable and crash in a suburban area of the space station after a struggle between the two men. In spite of the setback, Jessica adapted accordingly—telling Elysium's Homeland Security to detain everyone who exited the wreckage, have President Patel evacuated, and declare her takeover as the commander of the Civil Cooperation Bureau due to the "act of war" that had just occurred.

The delusional woman then watched as Max, Frey Santiago (a nurse and Max's childhood friend), and her daughter Matilda (who was afflicted with leukemia) were brought before her. She directed her subordinates to pull the data from the protagonist's head and bring it online, not caring if either he or Frey's child died; Jessica also had mother and daughter taken away by Crowe, who locked them in the supply room of Elysium's armory. Heading over to said armory herself, she scolded Kruger for not keeping things covert and reminded him that they would both be executed by hanging for treason should Patel's administration realize the true extent of their collusion.

Delacourt's death

Jessica's corpse

Jessica also angrily declared that he was "useless to [her]" right after he intentionally punched a mirror he was in front of, unaware that her henchman had already decided to use John's sequence to take over Elysium with the help of his two friends. As such, Kruger falsely apologized for the crash and stated they would not be executed right before stabbing the villainess in her neck with a shard from the broken mirror. He took a few moments to taunt her about her impending fate before tossing her into the supply room with Frey and Matilda. In spite of being a witness to her ruthless personality, the nurse attempted to save Jessica's life anyway, only for her to refuse her help for unknown reasons; seconds later, she died from the injury.

Quotes[]

  • "Tell me something, President Patel: do you have children? (Patel: "I'm not the one being reviewed here.") Then I will assume you do not. Perhaps if you did have children, then you would behave in a manner that is more conducive to the longevity of this habitat. I understand that it is not the— the fashion to think and to act as I do. I understand that perfectly... but when they come for your house—for the house you built for your children, and your children's children—it won't be 'PR' and 'campaign promises' that keep them out. It will be me!" (Jessica defending her callous actions)
  • "I'm not interested in your... little ideas. I'm interested in something much larger. This habitat is dying. There is a political sickness inside of it—a tumor that needs to be removed. You and your company are in need of revenue that is drying up, so... you built the torus. Can you override the servers and place a new president in power?" (Jessica convincing John to join her plot to oust Patel and take his place as Elysium's president)
  • "No. No more..." (Jessica's last words before her death)

Trivia[]

  • Jessica Delacourt is the first villainess that Jodie Foster has portrayed.
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