Wicked Little Letters (2023) User Reviews

Brilliantly funny and original

[ethanbresnett · 8/10 · 20 February 2024]

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.

Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley impress

[r96sk · 8/10 · 23 February 2024]

Very good, this!

'Wicked Little Letters' is fun. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley impress in lead roles, both managing to stand out just as much as the other - Colman is particularly perfectly cast. The rest of them merit praise as well, namely Anjana Vasan and Timothy Spall.

There isn't much more to note about this really and I don't mean that in a negative way whatsoever. It's all competently put together, as those onscreen bring this rather simple film to life - and I like those type of movies. Well worth a watch! Happy that I managed to catch it at the cinema on the big screen, always nice.

Good, but...

[neil-476 · 7/10 · 2 March 2024]

In 1920 Littlehampton, prim Christian spinster Edith starts getting anonymous profanity-laden offensive letters, and others subsequently join the mailing list. The blame lands on her bawdy unfiltered Irish single mother next door neighbour Rose, who is soon in danger of prison and losing her daughter. Fortunately, Woman Police Officer Gladys is sure of Rose's innocence and has ideas about how to find the culprit. Unfortunately, Gladys is constrained by the police force's view of her gender.

The trailer for this film looked hilarious (and, to be, fair, it is often very funny), but it is much darker, and with far more drama than I expected. I enjoyed it, but it is not the film I expected it to be. The humour almost all derives from the improbably florid obscenity of the letters and its delivery by straight-laced people who are horrified (and occasionally secretly delighted) by the filth they are uttering. There is also a very short and hilarious sequence of Gladys throwing a silent tantrum in frustration at being stonewalled by her superior.

It is based on a true story, albeit one suspects some liberties have been taken, though not with the framework of the tale. And therein lies my main reservation. This is a period piece, but it is fatally undermined by anachronisms, which fall in two main areas.

One is dialogue. There are verbal expressions and vocabulary choices which are distractingly modern. The other is colourblind casting. I don't normally have a problem with colourblind casting, but in a period piece like this, a black judge in southern England in 1920 is distractingly inaccurate. Worse, Gladys is played (rather wonderfully) by Anjana Vasan, an actress of Indian heritage. The screenplay repeatedly makes the point that she is denigrated because she is female, but her race is not mentioned. In 1920, it would have been and I fear that, laudable is these casting choices might be in principle, in practice they served to pull me out of the story.

But Olivia Coleman has great fun as Edith, Jessie Buckley is an utter joy as Rose, Anjana Vasan is comically deadpan, and Timothy Spall gives depth to arguably the most difficult character - all the performances are good, and the film is well worth watching on that basis alone. As long as you don't mind a bit of bad language! Or a lot...

Strange film - lots of goofs!

[pasinger · 7/10 · 24 February 2024]

The film is set in 1920. At that time, it would have been very unusual to have a couple with mixed races (black/white), a black criminal judge or an Asian policewoman, as shown in the film. The ethnic minority characters are a modern phenomenon which unfortunately look anomalous. Also, the "offence" of libel which forms the basis of the trial is a civil matter and not a criminal one. There was no law requiring someone to wear a helmet on a motorbike until 1973 so it would not have been illegal in 1920, and the child protection service (mentioned several times during the film) was not established until 1989.

A Great Little Comedy!

[ScorpioDog · 7/10 · 2 March 2024]

'Wicked Little Letters' is hysterically funny and unique. It takes a somewhat humorous true story and adds some great social commentary.

The narrative and themes within this are incredibly strong. By exploring how female behaviour was strictly controlled in a patriarchal and religious setting, the film emphasises the absurdity and hypocrisy in how 1920s women were treated. Jessie Buckley, Olivia Coleman, and Anjana Vasan make for an excellent leading trio!

Although, the cinematography and editing needed to be more adventurous. It could have visually reflected the personality of each of the main trio, such as having Buckley's character scenes having more unconventional visuals. This is only a slight criticism though. Please check this one out if you are not adversed to swearing!

A wicked little joy

[RachelMary2 · 8/10 · 25 February 2024]

This is a warm happy gem of a film. Watching the very prim and proper Edith especially say naughty words was surprisingly entertaining and delightful. The leads and supporting cast were great fun to watch and the simple story wasn't over engineered or fluffed up.

Something I loved about it was subtlety of the deeper messages. Women coming together to support women, in spite of differences or temptation for judgement. The hints at the disapproval of the suffragette collective movement while this one individual was making headlines writing letters, the determination of the WPO when her male superiors dismissed her, the oppression of father against daughter and the need to scream and escape from that. Even at the end it wasn't about hate, or even right and wrong or justice, but about breaking free of whatever cuffs are binding us. We need to let it out, to connect with each other, and sometimes that's in the form of a good laugh and very naughty words.

Jessie Buckley is a highlight

[deanosuburbia · 7/10 · 29 February 2024]

Simple and entertaining with a good ensemble cast. There are a few laughs to be had although quite a lot of the funny parts were in the trailer. Olivia Colman is always a delight to watch with Jessie Buckley stealing the show with some excellent acting as the unpredictable, foul mouthed Rose. Timothy Small plays a character so hideous it is hard to watch at times. It's a story about female empowerment and it still frustrates me that women were treated like this only in the last century. The scenes with the gang of women clubbing together to help Rose were a highlight. Wicked Little Letters reminded me in tone of The Banshees of Inisherin albeit with a much more positive narrative.

Wicked fun

[donmurray29 · 8/10 · 22 February 2024]

Giving this an 8/10 rating

You will be laughing very hard and going what the hell is this about, is this true, all in the same time during this topper comedy, which has plenty of swearing, but done not in and offending way, even though this tale is crazy.

Director Thea Sharrock does a cracking job on this, lovely staged shots and direction on the actors, from Jonny Sweet, who wrote the script, from the real life events, just how he found this story? Glad he did, as you will never see this again, unless we get a remake, which I see coming.

Olivia Colman is restrained quite a bit in her role, and it's a solid performance, Jessie Buckley and Anjana Vasan are just pure joy as is the rest of the cast, Timothy Spall had fun too, he is very devious, and good at it.

The letters are quite ear opening as the dialogue and characters, which are never boring, and it's wickedly funny. A guilty pleasure 100% and it plays on it to good use. A great film.

Disappointed

[pollydymock · 6/10 · 26 February 2024]

Having spent my formative years in Littlehampton, I knew this story & was excited to see the film. I was puzzled by the locations - of course I realise that not all of Littlehampton would be suitable for filming these days but it was very odd for me to see Tim Spall leave the beach & run to Arundel to report the letters to the police, just over 4 miles away. Western Road & other locations were not in Littlehampton either. I wasn't keen on the constant swearing - too much, too often relied on for the "comedy". The diversity - essential these days for all modern films, just jarred. Having said that, my husband & I agreed that probably Armando Iannuci (after his very successful David Copperfield) would have probably made a better film.

The trailer overpromised massively

[imaxxing · 4/10 · 13 March 2024]

Wicked Little Letters' trailer was really enticing, but unfortunately it was an overpromising highlight reel of the few funny snapshots stowed away from the film's full 1 hour 40 minute runtime. What we're presented with is a lot of underdeveloped filler, not to mention revisionist history spoiling it.

The essence of the film (loosely based on a true story) is that a series of offensive letters are posted, and, owing to the period in 1920s Sussex, the dastardly poison-pen cannot easily be traced - leading to an ensuing investigation. The farcical insults themselves were banal and short of wit or creativity. Yes, people of that time would probably be shocked or rattled by any such combination of words, given all the god-fearing and preoccupation with social decorum going on. All the on-screen gawping attests to that being acknowledged. In the 21st century, however, scattered strings of unfunny swear words aren't outrageous zingers, they're just tepidly cliché.

The film is hardly faithful to its historical setting either (assuming that's even what it wanted to do), which is perhaps its biggest blunder. Policewoman Gladys Moss was not Indian, yet was cast as such. A black judge would have been virtually impossible, yet one was cast. Among several other people of colour being selected for roles. I wouldn't depict the Zulus with a caucasian man or asian man leading the vanguard, yet here we suffer historical revisionism trashing a promising setting. Every white male was depicted as a flawed buffoon. Women and people of colour were given a far more favourable image. The result is dull, spiritless imbalance.

4/10.

Dreadfully Flawed & Lacking Any Emotional Intelligence!

[martimusross · 6/10 · 11 April 2024]

Wicked little letters

From the outset you thought this little movie with the brilliant cast and clever script would deliver in spades, however the whole film was a very patchy experience.

What was good? The cinematography was brilliant. The music was brilliant. The acting was a masterclass in nuanced micro-gestures. The characters were brilliantly drawn.

Literally everything else was bad, the script railed against the supposed patriarchy of the early 20th century. All men were portrayed as idiots or some sort of longstanding joke and had a uniformity of superficial characterisation. Where as all the women were expertly drawn stereotypical types, the mouse, the practical, the religious, the sensible, the professional. We then had a comprehensive rewriting of history much in the way Bridgerton or Queen Charlotte was undertaken, with inclusivity boxes being ticked all over the place, this was a colossal distortion of the past and very very difficult for most viewers to make sense of this movie within its context.

To my mind the most heinous crime was the lack of emotional intelligence if this movie was trying to argue the case of pre-eminance from a woman's perspective why would it then allow the main protagonist to choose a woman as her victim? This was nonsensical? It really was a psychological miss with little explanation as to the drivers and impetus for the action.

I enjoyed the acting. I enjoyed the setting but everything else I loathed with a vengeance at best this is a 6 out of 10, it was okay but I don't recommend anyone going to see this movie.

an actual case, laughs included

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 4 April 2024]

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.

Funny Film!

[vengeance20 · 7/10 · 23 February 2024]

Saw a Preview for this last year in November/December time & have been curious to see it since! It looked like it might be good & have been sort of looking forward to it!

The film sees a local conservative Edith Swan, who begins to receive savage letters full of hilarious & profanities! A New Neighbour, a rowdy, loud mouthed Irish migrant, Rose is charged with the crime! Suspecting that something is doesn't add up, the town's girls investigate!

I found the film to be quite good! It's not amazing & does take a while to get going & into the film, but once it does, the film like the profanities heard never let up!

There's some big stars here including Timothy Spall & Olivia Coleman! They & the other actors do a good job in this flick! The humour is spot on here, while it could've been used more, but them films story makes up for it as it was interesting! The ending isn't surprising & is a give away considering we know halfway through who the culprit is!

The film setting is not bad & the runtime & pacing are good at 1 hour & 35 minutes (95 minutes), so that's a plus along with some eye candy here too!

Overall, it's a decent film which is funny & had me laughing too! It's not amazing, but it's definitely not bad either! Give it a watch!

7/10.

Freaking hilarious

[smithjodie-99378 · 10/10 · 24 February 2024]

Absolutely superb. All the actors were amazing and if you need a laugh this is certainly the film for you. I was crying with laughter.

I am not sure what everyone else was watching but this film is brilliant from the script to the acting to the cinematography.

Such an easy film to watch and a great escape from reality, which is what the movies should be about.

Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Lolly Adefope and Joanna Scanlon are absolutely superb.

The comedic timing is on point and I think it's a film you will need to watch again from laughing too much and missing a lot of the jokes.

Brilliant!!!

If it were an Ealing comedy?

[gfilm-45694 · 6/10 · 24 February 2024]

A charming, if a slightly exploding booted acted story of a women's almost writing Tourettes need to burst the imagined tight laced up behaviour of Suffragette protesting England. Beautifully shot, strangely plotted story about a manifestly deranged women sending profanity laden letters to local village people but the blame pinned on an innocent 'lust for life' Irish woman with a daughter who wants to play guitar? Who knew it was frowned upon in Victorian England despite years of guitar playing women in bygone times? So an attempt to tell an eccentric English story which may have benefitted from the 'verve' that Ealing comedy's injected into stories, looked to me like a good match, but that's just me.

Great performances all round from the principles, shout out to Eileen Atkins who I worked with because this utter amazing actor seems to be missing from other reviews.

So an English Victorian comedy of manners, a charming if slight production, superficially busy telling us all something we already know. The audience I was with, mainly beyond 60 year olds, appreciative more toward the end. Not entirely sure it will make the cannon of truly great insightful British films but I'm sure they all had a great time hanging out with each other and making it.

Great British Comedy

[matt-france · 9/10 · 25 February 2024]

Beautifully written script. Laugh out loud moments, wrapped in feeling and emotion. This film speaks to buttoned up and repressed emotions and feelings within the British psyche of 1920's Britain, and if reports of walk-outs from disgruntled viewers are anything to go by, the same emotional constipation is alive and kicking over 100 years later.

It reveals the dangers of psychological projection in an endearing, gentle way. It reminded me of learning to swear with my mates as a kid and the laughs we used have as we invented strings of expletives. It was how we began to express ourselves and outgrow childhood, and how we learnt to reign ourselves in again.

There's much talk of the film as allegory to the current wave of online trolling, but I find it closer to a direct confrontation to those people who still believe in emotional repression.

The cast is a superb. Olivia Colman displays the feelings of Edith gradually, like a pot of water slowing boiling. Jessie Buckley is fiery, loving, sassy and outrageous. Timothy Spall depicts the effects of pent up anger with chilling effect, and Anjana Vasan is adorably polite and sassy as a Woman Police Officer.

If you are offended by swearing and bad language, then you MUST watch this film, for your, and everyone else's own good!

Loved it.

Perfect happy movie

[chris_rowe-881-168820 · 10/10 · 7 March 2024]

There's something about British films, a realistic charm that you can't get from big budget movies and this is one that is an absolute gem, out of the hundreds and thousands of films I've seen, it created the best atmosphere in a cinema, two days in a row! I liked it alot.

Cheesy humour and alot of foul language but in a way that'll shock and delight and make you cry laughing, I saw one review claiming it's not funny... I feel very sorry for them.

The acting is superb, I love the variety JB does, she's so good in this, the cast is perfect and all have really good chemistry

For me Olivia Coleman is this generations Helen Mirren.

Entertaining enough, hilariously entertaining in parts

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 7/10 · 10 March 2024]

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

In the 1920's, in the little village of Littlehampton, a scandal erupts where a series of outrageous, insulting, profane letters are sent to local residents. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), a prudish local woman, is especially shocked at the tone of the letters, along with stern head of the household , her father Edward (Timothy Spall.) She has her suspicions, in the shape of Rose (Jessie Buckley), a foul mouthed Irish lady Edith took under her wing and now regrets. Everything seems clear cut, but under the surface, a shocking truth lurks.

Director Thea Shurrock's homegrown period comedy piece has proven something of a sleeper hit, a seemingly traditional historical yarn, with a subversive twist in its tail, with its intermittent outpourings of hilariously filthy profanity, and even more unbelievably, based on a true life story. With a slew of top flight acting talent heading the bill, including current acting royalty Olivia Colman in the lead role, it definitely has loftier ambitions than just to be a one-joke comedy piece, but in spite of touching on some worthier notes, the sporadic letter sequences and the outrageous belly chuckles they provoke remain its chief selling point.

Sending up the moral pruriency of the time it's set in as it does, and with the incredulity of the plot line already having it up in arms on the back of this, at the risk of having my review rejected by IMDb, the historical accuracy of the piece feels further compounded, sadly, by the notable minority cast members in key roles, including Anjana Vasan as an Asian female police constable on the hunt for the culprit, which given the setting and the historical timeline, sadly does hinder the believability of things. It's not distracting enough to see Jonny Sweet's script touch on other worthwhile points, such as people's standing in a community affecting peoples judgment of them without proof, as well as hitting on some darker sequences in general that even out the funnier stuff.

For all its loftier praises, it's essentially a novelty film, with its laughs generated from a rather stationary source, but it still hits the nail on the head this way, and when they strike, they do provide an outrageously good chuckle. ***

1920's England??!

[FrancisHHooks · 1/10 · 12 April 2024]

1920's? Nah. This film is very much of 2024. Here's a film for "Modern Audiences", more DEI box ticking than you can shake a stick at.

Half the cast is non-white despite this being decades before the Windrush Generation changed the racial make-up of the country so pretty much every scene looks ridiculous and inaccurate.

Black police officers? An Asian WPC? In 1920's England?! Really?

Even better a black High Court Judge - in England in the 1920's!! Completely ridiculous. This sort of tokenism just takes any viewer out of the story.

And, but of course, every single white male character is negative; either cruel or cruel and stupid.

Brilliant, well done.

Comedy?... of Sorts

[TomTalksFilms · 6/10 · 25 February 2024]

Fun fact: The films composer is Isobel Waller-Bridge sister of Phoebe

Wicked Little Letters was this weekends only new cinema release in the UK. After last weekends releases (let's forget about those, if you haven't already) it's up to this film to get bums back on seats.

I had seen the trailer for this one numerous times in recent weeks (before other films) and from the trailer the film seemed like a straight up comedy. This however isn't so much the case. Taking place in a quaint English town post WW1, Edith Swan (Olivia Coleman) has now received 19 letters from an unknown assailant containing vulgar insults directed towards her. She and her mother and father who she lives with are sure that their neighbour Rose (Jessie Buckley) is responsible as she is reasonably new to the area and is loud and promiscuous in an otherwise conservative street. What follows is essentially a morally Conservative vs morally Liberal disagreement between the two characters with a strong feminist message at its heart.

I mentioned earlier that the film has been marketed as a comedy and whilst there are funny moments the film didn't feel like a comedy to me. Most of the funny moments come from various characters reading out these grotesque letters but other than that the film focuses on the drama between the two characters. Comedy is of course massively subjective but for me I didn't feel it was even trying to be as funny as the trailer made it seem like it would be.

The drama however was a nice surprise if a little cliche at times. Edith is a very conservative woman who reads the bible and does every little thing her dad tells her to do when he tells her to do it. Rose on the other hand is fouled mouthed and a drunkard who doesn't let anyone tell her what to do. These characters being so different is largely where the conflict comes from.

I felt the acting performing performances were all strong but with no real stand outs and being that I was expecting to watch a comedy I can't help but feel a little let down.

Not that funny but very investing

[masonsaul · 7/10 · 24 February 2024]

Wicked Little Letters humour almost exclusively comes from its swears, which are only sporadically funny but as a whodunnit it's a lot stronger because it answers that central question fairly quickly to make the quest to prove Rose's innocence all the more investing. Despite it not being that funny, the insults are pretty memorable and it saves the best for last.

Jessie Buckley doesn't let anything stop her and it makes Rose very endearing early on, plus there's a solid emotional core to the performance. Olivia Colman's performance plays to all of her strengths with an overly kind soul who relishes the attention and the swearing once she finally lets herself say them.

Thea Sharrock's direction imbues the film with a nice style. Generally, it looks good and there's some simple yet fun things that were destined to be in the trailer to show off. Even if they don't land, the few times the film's comedy ventures outside of just swearing are welcome as they give the humour some variety.

Wicked Little Letters

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 9 March 2024]

"Edith" (Olivia Colman) is the daughter of the respectable "Swan" family who live a God-fearing life under the aegis of father "Edward" (Timothy Spall) and mother "Victoria" (Gemma Jones). A letter arrives and they gather round the table in trepidation. This isn't the first such letter and it causes dad to head straight to the police station to demand that they arrest their new next door neighbour. She's quite a contrast to the "Swan" prim and proper existence. "Rose" (Jessie Buckley) is a fairly foul mouthed single parent who calls a spade a spade and after befriending "Edith" initially, seems to have earned her enmity. It's not just "Edith", though - most of this community of small-minded hypocrites take the same view and with jail looking increasingly likely, she needs help! Now that comes from the most unlikely of quarters as a few of the villagers, and disgruntled woman police officer "Moss" (Anjana Vasan) decide that this is all just too convenient, and that they are going to find out who really did write these heinous and obnoxious letters - a task worthy of "Miss Marple" herself... I found it pretty easy to guess who the culprit was, but the knowing doesn't really impact on this rather joyous romp through a society of double standards and bigotry. The language is ripe but even when at it's most objectionable, it's always quite funny to think what genuinely might have shocked a generation of bible-bashers and bridge-players. There's quite a fun sub-plot with Dame Eileen Atkins, Joanna Scanlan and Lolly Adefope to help keep the mischief rolling along nicely, the police force are well represented in the haplessness stakes by Hugh Skinner and Paul Chahidi and, oh - of course "Rose" has a black boyfriend "Bill" (Malachi Kirby) just to further antagonise her less than worldly brethren. It's a good laugh this - not a guffaw, but it raises quite a few smiles and both Buckley and Colman have quite some comedy timing.

Poison-pen letters? More like dirty postcards!

[davidgee · 8/10 · 5 March 2024]

This is another of those small British movies that leaves a large impression, like 2022's Living. Based on a true story from the 1920s, director Thea Sharrock takes us back to the seaside town of Littlehampton in Sussex (more photogenic Arundel is used for the setting). Escalatingly vicious poison pen letters are being sent to local inhabitants, starting with Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), a middle-aged spinster still living with her elderly mum and dad (Gemma Jones and Timothy Spall). The prime suspect is their next-door neighbour Rose (Jessie Buckley), a potty-mouthed Irish immigrant with whom the Swans have had many altercations. A police investigation uncovers the truth, although most viewers will get there before they do.

The letters are not just Wicked, they are Filthy, and much of the film's humour derives from the inept smuttiness of their phrasing. Take out the dirty-postcard humour (please don't!) and this movie would fit seamlessly into the grand comedy tradition of the Ealing Studios output of the 1940s and 50s (The Lavender Hill Mob et al). Cinematography and set design beautifully recapture the period. The script and the performances are gloriously OTT, close to pantomime level. It's all in the worst possible taste - and all the better for it!

Quirky little British comedy that's definitely my cup of tea! [+67%]

[arungeorge13 · 7/10 · 13 April 2024]

If you love your share of quirky British comedies, then you're in for a fairly fun ride with Wicked Little Letters. They could've done a better job with poster (something handwritten maybe, given it had to do with letters after all), but don't let that deter you from watching. The leading ladies - Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley (big fan!) and Anjana Vasan - are in exceptional form here.

The plot neatly delves into themes such as repression, hierarchy, patriarchy (in religion especially), and oddly enough, the sophisticated cursing style of the British, which I'm fascinated by. It is a whodunnit, but the reveals aren't exactly what startle. It's how director Thea Sharrock chooses to present the reasoning that intrigues me more. The supporting cast (especially, the ladies who join officer Gladys in her quest to unravel the mystery) is a lot of fun. I'd love to see Vasan's large, expressive eyes featured in more films, please.

All of that said, I definitely don't know whether in 1920s England, a police officer (who's presumably of Indian heritage) was frequently shunned because of her gender alone. India was still under British rule, and it is quite surprising to me that she's never denigrated by the British officers for her Indian roots. Also, a black judge in those times? Gimme a break. Don't get me wrong, the casting choices are laudable, but the anachronism is quite in-your-face. That cinematic gripe aside, I'd say I enjoyed it for the most part.

A divine Comedy with a Punch

[tm-sheehan · 9/10 · 22 March 2024]

My Review- Wicked Little Letters - My Rating 9/10

What an enjoyable romp refreshingly original like a dose of Tourette's the cast obviously had fun reciting the foul profanities in the wicked little letters that screenplay writer Jonny Sweet composed for this humorous comedy of substance .

I describe it as a comedy of substance because Jonny Sweet has combined a style of comedy with an earthiness and pathos which it seems only the British or Irish can achieve.

I won't spoil the story as it was a complete surprise to me in a way as I was expecting another predictable Midsummer murder type plot and no murders occur at all .

I wasn't expecting so many complex issues to be explored in this clever plot .

Set in 1920 post World War 1 Britain in a seaside village called Littlehampton matronly spinster Edith Swan played with delicious complexity by the superb Olivia Coleman receives the most obscene poisonous letters in language that no God fearing Christian woman would know or would she ?

When other women in Edith Swan's circle also begin to receive these obscene letters Edith's domineering father insists he knows who is responsible and the local police began an investigation.

The publicity of this unusual case soon propels Edith into the National News and her new found notoriety begins to appeal to this woman who has gone unnoticed for her entire life.

The prime suspect is her neighbour a young foul mouthed mother Irish immigrant named Rose Gooding played to perfection by Jessie Buckley.

These two fine actresses both in their prime are the heart and soul of Wicked Little Letters as the history of their complex relationship is revealed in this clever tale.

Three veterans of British theatre and cinema also have great moments in this movie.

Timothy Spall and Gemma Jones play Edith's parents Edward and Victoria Swan in one telling line Victoria reveals that she had six children 5 left and poor dowdy Edith was the chick that stayed behind to look after her parents .Edith's domineering chauvinist father bullies her poor daughter in one of the more serious sides to this story.

I was also delighted to see 90 year old Eileen Atkins cast as Mabel a member of the Christian women's whist card club she has some great wise and insightful lines in the movie.

I won't say more however what impressed me the most in Wicked Little Letters beautifully directed by another great woman director Thea Sharrock were the handling of the effects of issues like parental neglect and abuse on their children especially when the relationship is based on dependency.

Also the misogyny and power games directed at female employees that existed in the 1920's that I hope has disappeared from the Police Force today.

Anjana Vasan is perfect cast as Police woman Officer Gladys Moss she is belittled and patronised by the 2 Keystone Cops who try to keep her in her place .

I liked her line just call me Police Officer Gladys Moss isn't it obvious I'm a woman ?

The other great aspect of Wicked Little Letters for me was the way a persons appearance and personality can be used to incriminate them when a suspect must be found at all costs even when credible evidence points to the contrary.

Wicked Little Letters has an hysterical conclusion I really loved this movie.