Wicked Little Letters

Greetings again from the darkness. "This is more true than you'd think." Director Thea Sharrock (ME BEFORE YOU, 2016) kicks off the film with this statement. The movie then proceeds to twist and stretch and outright change many of the details from the actual story and case outlined in the 2017 book, "The Littlehampton Libels: A Miscarriage of Justice and a Mystery about Words in 1920's England" by Christopher Hilliard. However, from an entertainment perspective, the script from Jonny Sweet combined with the stellar British cast works pretty well as a glimpse of that era's patriarchal society, as well as the need for attention from someone who has been stifled for far too long. And it even includes a few laughs along the way.

As Edith Swan (Oscar winner Olivia Colman) and her elder parents Edward (Timothy Spall) and Victoria (Gemma Jones) gather around the table to read the anonymous profanity-laced letter, we learn it's the 19th one received by Edith. The decision is made to contact Constable Papperwick (Hugh Skinner, FALLING FOR FIGARO), who is quick to accept as fact their presumption that the letters' source is neighbor Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). See, the Swan's are a God-fearing family (and quick to advertise the fact), while Rose is an Irish immigrant and single mom with a loud mouth ... one often filled with colorful curse words. It's little wonder holier-than-thou Edith's accusations are believed while denials from rough-around-the-edges Rose are dismissed.

"Female" Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan, CYRANO, 2021) is the only one who notices the massive inconsistencies in the "evidence", and sets out to investigate. This, of course, goes against the wishes of the police captain, and overall dismissal from fellow officers since she is such an oddity as a female officer. Moss is following in her father's footsteps with the badge, and has more instinct and powers of observation than the others ... especially Papperwick, who is clueless and arrogant.

As Edith finds pleasure in the notoriety, Moss enlists help from a couple of community ladies who don't buy into the Swan's pious attitude. The film's best line is, "Congratulations on your tragedy." These women, played beautifully by Joanna Scanlan (AFTER LOVE, 2020) and Eileen Atkins ("Doc Martin") devise a strategy to catch the true culprit in the act. Of course, most if not all viewers will have solved the case long before the police or jury do, but that won't lessen the enjoyment of watching the drama play out, sometimes with a dash of humor.

The 1923 Poison Pen scandal of Littlehampton was a real thing, with court case and all. The film makes a point of the Patriarchal society in place at the time (the onset of the Suffragette movement), and it helps us gain an understanding of Edith and Officer Moss, as well as the quick-to-judge folks so easily accepting Rose's guilt. I probably enjoyed this a bit more than many since I'm a big fan of both Colman and Buckley, who also co-starred together in THE LOST DAUGHTER. Timothy Spall reminds us that few can chew scenery like he, and the other familiar English actors all do their part. Those creative and sometimes confusing epithets (more likely to result in chuckles than anger) were taken from the actual letters in the case, and Ms. Colman's cackle at the end is itself worthy of a ticket price.

The film opens in theaters on April 5, 2024.

I imagine this film was a lot of fun to write, the letters in particular. I also imagine it was a lot of fun to act in. The film is so distinctly British. The Americans could never make a film like this. That's no knock on the Americans, it's just simply something that wouldn't work or be charming in their culture.

Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are both fantastic here. Buckley brings the energy to the movie and Colman brings the subtle hilarity, "...on a Wednesday." Her facial acting throughout the movie is mesmerising. She's fascinating to watch and her reactions are both natural, and hilarious at the same time. This was a good one. 7/10.

I wasn't sure what to make of this movie, it's good in parts, it has two very good central performances from Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley but suffers from a really uneven tone.

The tone problems all stem from the direction of the piece. Its great to see such a diverse cast, but that diversity of casting does a historical injustice to Karpal Kaur Sandhu who was the first serving Asian woman in the police, her story is truly heroic and tragic, and ignoring any racial tension in 1920's Britain is also anachronistic and fantastical. Those moments give the work an uneven tone, and the longer the movie goes on the more the direction lurches from a fun tone it something closer to what the movie can be.

The outstanding moments in this film come from Jessie Buckley, who like Maggie Smith in her younger years bursts onto the screen with energy and charisma. Olivia Coleman is always full of nuance and depth - those two central performances carry the movie. Anjana Vasan is charming and full of comic energy she is required to carry a part which has some very odd writing and character development. She does it like a star.

A very odd movie in some ways but worth you time if you can get over the anachronisms and the uneven tone.

This British comedy is, rather like the content of the letters on which the plot is based, somewhat crude and unsubtle. The characters are largely stereotypes - the prim, god-fearing Edith, the foul-mouthed slatternly Irishwoman Rose, the misogynistic buffoons (pretty much all the male characters). Timothy Spall plays a nasty bully, and this, along with the early friendship between Edith and Rose, which breaks down, mainly due to his influence, suggests there is a potential for a stronger story here - if the film had been brave enough to escape the rather one-joke plotline approach. The use of black and Asian actors to portray characters in roles where this would not have been historically accurate has now become almost obligatory, but is still a bit of an irritating anachronism. Overall, the film does have its moments, but does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.

Wicked Little Letters is an incredibly funny, cheeky, and punchy film that will be sure to put a smile on your face.

It follows a series of bizarre events as the pious and reserved Edith receives a string of crude letters, supposedly from her boisterous neighbour Rose. It's one of those delightful British films that brings to a light a surprisingly true story and packs it full of brilliant British talent.

The story is great fun. As mentioned it's cheeky and lewd but this isn't the only string to its bow. There are some brilliantly fleshed out and interesting lead characters as well as a great collection of supporting characters, which gives it a great blend of comedy and drama.

Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman as the two leads are both brilliant as expected. They each bring a different style of comedy to their characters, elevating the witty dialogue superbly. They are just such great fun to watch.

Overall this film is just an absolute hoot. It's fun and quirky and boisterous and just a really good time.