Wicked Little Letters – Film Review 
by Brian Merriman

Directed by Thea Sharrock
Written by Jonny Sweet
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Timothy Spall,  Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins.

When I see Olivia Coleman’s name on a film, I know there is going to be good writing and good characterisation. Coleman learned long ago, that it is the quality of the part and not its size that makes the impact, and hence, by choosing excellent roles, she has shot up the award-winning star chart, creating a special niche for her outstanding character studies. When you see she has both an acting and producing credit, the signs are not disappointing.

‘Wicked Little Letters’ is based on a true scandal that stunned England in the 1920s but has since been largely forgotten. Post-war neighbours Edith Swan and Rose Gooding live in modest surroundings in the seaside town of Littlehampton.  Swann (Coleman) is the mature, unmarried daughter of a dysfunctional Bible Belt family. Swann’s father (a sinister Timothy Spall) is a sadistic man oppressing his daughter and his wife (a lovely study by Gemma Jones) into obedient servitude. She has to find an outlet for her true feelings, and to find a way to get the attention she craves in a home where she is no more than part of the functional furniture.

Moving in next door is Rose (Jessie Buckley on top form) as the energetic, loud-mouthed, opinionated Irish woman, widowed by the War and left with her daughter to rear and her lover, well played by Malachi Kirby. There is an underscore of racism and sexism throughout the text, well illustrated in the plot development. Modern filming mixes races into many traditional roles.

In Littlehampton, Rose is ostracised for her uninhibited behaviour, though any Irish woman in a relationship with a Black man would have been an equal subject of scorn a century ago. Equally, the trial Judge would not have been Black, but the casting of actors on merit is a practice that has brought much freshness to historical dramas (would the times have been so tolerant). In fact, the casting throughout is first class from Alisha Weir as Rose’s daughter, to a wonderful group of supporting women actors who start out as Edith’s Whist companions, only to prove they are no fools when it comes to fighting injustice.

There are so many laugh-out-loud moments. The prudishness of the times is gloriously exploited by the colourful language of the letters that swirl around the town, calling spades shovels in abundance!

Buckley proves that no one can swear like the Irish! Her mastery of language and its use for emphasis is a glorious example of how many who would be outraged by such utterances from a British woman, but allow Rose to throw out profanities deliciously throughout the well-crafted screenplay by Johnny Sweet.

The sexism is studied from the shame of Rose’s single parenthood to the other key plot, the marginalisation of the role of Woman Police Constable Moss, in a perfectly pitched performance by Anjana Visan.

‘Wicked Little Letters’ is a romp of a comedy. The dramatic underscore is intelligent and purposeful. Sexism, racism, hypocrisy, the changing times of women who kept the factories going through the War, who now refuse to fade into the background, is a tale that will keep you thoroughly entertained and impressed, throughout the 100 minutes that seem to fly by.

Beautifully set, so well written, deliciously cast and directed by Thea Sharrock, ‘Wicked Little Letters’ is a breath of fresh air in these days, when we can all do with a laugh and still learn a thing or two about how times have changed for the better.