Wicked Little Letters (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – When people in Littlehampton – including conservative local Edith – begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting something is amiss, the town’s women investigate.

My Take – I think we can all agree that venting your spleen in an angry email or message is the perfect way to blow off steam. Now imagine, this happening in the early 1920s in the seaside town of Littlehampton where its residents started receiving a series of obscene letters scandalizing the small Sussex town.

Loosely based on an actual story and the case outlined in ‘The Littlehampton Libels: A Miscarriage of Justice and a Mystery about Words in 1920’s England’, a 2017 book by Christopher Hilliard, this latest endeavor from director Thea Sharrock, known for her work on the adaptions of Me Before You (2016) and The One and Only Ivan (2020), delivers a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of the scandal that is pleasantly amusing, punchy and sure to keep you smiling for 100 minutes.

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.

Sure, it is at times predictable and isn’t as funny as it could have been, but comedian and screenwriter Jonny Sweet ensures that the screenplay is giddily plotted, inherently odd and intentionally goofy, resulting in a pretty enjoyable experience.

And like recent films that take place in the past, this one’s really more concerned with the present, and any resemblance to our blighted era of online harassment is obviously intentional.

Whilst it doesn’t offer anything revolutionary to the world of cinema, it most certainly offers an insight into a British 1920s conservative society, and its farcical, small-town feel makes for an amusing, profanity fueled watch.

Set in 1920, during the suffragette movement in the UK, the story follows Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), a spinster and devout Christian in Littlehampton, who becomes the target of hate mail. Being the only unwed daughter still living at home with her casually oppressive parents, the controlling Edward (Timothy Spall) and the gentle Victoria (Gemma Jones), the issue comes with great distress to the family.

And now having endured 19 such letters filled with profanities, Edward seeks the assistance of the local Constable Papperwick (Hugh Skinner), who is quick to accept as fact their presumption that the letters’ source is neighbor Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley).

Rose Gooding is one of those Irish immigrants that everyone in the town was worried about showing up in Sussex after the war. A rowdy single mom who curses like a sailor and could probably out drink an entire fleet. The widowed Rose’s crimes against propriety include having fun and enjoying her life — keeping her new neighbors up all night by having loud, acrobatic-sounding sex with her boyfriend Bill (Malachi Kirby) and allowing her daughter Nancy (Alisha Weir) the unladylike hobby of playing the guitar.

Just about every aspect of Rose’s existence is an affront to Edith’s belief system, so when swears filled mail starts showing up she’s the only logical suspect. And soon Rose find herself in danger of prison time and losing her daughter.

Fortunately, Woman Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) is the only one who notices the massive inconsistencies in the supposed evidence, and sets out to investigate. Despite being dismissed by her fellow officers, Gladys mainly wonders why Rose would go to all the trouble of writing down expletives when she has no problem saying to Edith’s face.

Of course, it’s immediately obvious whether Rose is guilty, and who the real culprit might otherwise be, but that doesn’t lessen the enjoyment of watching the drama play out, with a dash of humor, and spread across a sleepy, button-down town. 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. Fully embracing its silly side.

It’s hard to say what gets bigger laughs: the over-the-top, strange, foul-mouthed insults in the letters themselves or the scandalized reactions of the characters reading them. As much as the characters dread receiving a letter, as the audience you’ll eagerly await the next reading to see what bizarre and unhinged comments the letter-writer will put down next.

The fact that it’s a true story is a big part of the film’s charm too as every single insult here is part of the original source material written in the 1920s, believe it or not. Set in the early 20th century, its exploration of the socio-criminal phenomenon of the poison pen letter is not only wittily humorous but also encourages its audience to reevaluate the ongoing prevalence of social media trolling that continues to dominate the media landscape over a century later.

The film also deeply dives into the misogyny of the time, and does a great job demonstrating how period-typical sexism affects the characters in different ways.

By exploring how female behavior was strictly controlled in a patriarchal and religious setting, the film emphasizes the absurdity and hypocrisy in how 1920s women were treated. It’s commendable the film is ambitious enough to put all that onto its plate, but the result is a mishmash that is more of a toned-down comedy with few explosive moments and dramatic undertones.

It helps that these scandalous moments are sold with an impressive cast. 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. Colman gives emotional depth to Edith in her most quiet, reserved moments, managing to let you hate the character a bit and feel sorry for her all at once. Also, you simply can’t go wrong letting Colman utter an unhinged string of curses and profanities. It hits every time.

Buckley, a master of every genre, is clearly enjoying herself, and the film lights up whenever she enters the frame. Buckley, understands the complexities of a character who isn’t quite as straightforward as she appears. Anjana Vasan is comically deadpan and Timothy Spall is believably monstrous as Edith’s overbearing father, a small-minded man furious with a changing world.

In other roles, Alisha Weir, Malachi Kirby, Joanna Scanlan, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, Hugh Skinner, Jason Watkins, Richard Goulding and Gemma Jones get their moments to shine. On the whole, ‘Wicked Little Letters’ is a light-hearted quirky British comedy with a good ensemble cast.