This is what you want from Perry, though, as writer, director, producer and co-star.

A Fall From Grace—which the filmmaker reportedly shot in just five days at his Atlanta studio—revisits some of his preferred, melodramatic themes.

A law-abiding, God-fearing woman is wronged, and she summons the strength to make things right.

The perpetrator is a handsome man who, inevitably, will end up shirtless.

Everything will wrap up way too quickly (even though “A Fall From Grace” is all of two hours long) and you will have some questions afterward, such as: How did that character get out of those handcuffs?

But first, the movie begins abruptly with a literal fall.

A distraught, elderly woman plunges to her death from a rooftop, with negotiators and police unable to stop her.

One of those officers, Jordan (Matthew Law), is married to Jasmine (Bresha Webb, who also appeared in Perry’s “Acrimony”), a young public defender who’s about to take on a challenging case of her own.

A woman named Grace (Crystal Fox) has been charged with murdering her husband—and she’s confessed to the crime.

All she has to do is plead guilty, according to Jasmine’s gruff and callous boss (Perry, proving again as he did in “Gone Girl” that he can do solid work as a serious actor).

It’s not that easy, though.

The deeper Jasmine digs into the facts of the case with Grace, the more questions she has about what really happened.

Fox is a veteran actress who’s never played a leading role, and kudos to Perry for giving her the chance.

Fox brings warmth and grace—no pun intended—to the role, and a naturalism and vulnerability despite the increasingly extreme circumstances her character endures.

And her initial interactions with Rashad, another veteran actress who’s overqualified for this material, are quite lovely and real.

Along those lines, the legend Cicely Tyson has a brief but pivotal role as a mysterious tenant in Sarah’s building, and while there’s not nearly enough of her, let’s just say she leaves an impression (and inspired some of the most vocal audience reactions during a recent screening).

But what initially seems like a rather straightforward, low-budget cautionary tale about the perils of trusting a seductive stranger eventually becomes a wild story that tries to encompass broader economic dangers, and the film’s reach exceeds its grasp.

The underlying theme is more complicated than the treatment it gets here.

And yet, Perry still insists on giving the people what they want—thankfully.

The shift from substantive social drama to violent and volatile thriller is a shocking one, but it also makes “A Fall From Grace” a whole lot more enjoyable.

See it with friends who have a sense of humor.