Wicked Little Letters – Film Review
by Frank L.

Director – Thea Sharrock
Writer – Jonny Sweet
Stars – Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan

Littlehampton, Sussex is an English seaside village of the very cute variety. In the early nineteen twenties, it was rocked by a scandal when a prim spinster Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) began receiving letters through the post containing anonymous, abusive phrases such as “foxy arsed”. They continue becoming ever more inventive and explicit. Edith lives with her parents Edward (Timothy Spall) and Victoria (Gemma Jones) in genteel frugality where the idea of an exciting night’s entertainment is a whist drive. These letters are alien beings in such a carefully constructed refinement. However, living next door in the cramped terrace and sharing an outside privy is new Irish arrival Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), her boyfriend Bill (Malachi Kirby) and her daughter. Rose’s husband was killed in the war. How she came to live in Littlehampton is not explained but they are outsiders and inevitably Rose is presumed to be the source of the letters.

Edward requires the local police to do something about the letters and the clodhopperish police go into action with only police officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) not jumping to the wrong conclusion as to who is the perpetrator of the letters. The police are led by Chief Constable Spedding (Paul Chahidi), and ably assisted among others by Constable Papperwick (Ryan Skinner). There is a suitable cast of village oddballs which includes Ann (Joanna Scanlan) and Mabel (Eileen Atkins) who are dragged into the plot with their eccentricities well aired.

This is a talented cast. However, Sharrock’s direction is to make each individual a caricature, particularly the Swan family, the police and the villagers. It is only Edith, Rose and Gladys that are allowed to develop into a three-dimensional form. Colman and Buckley appeared together in “The Lost Daughters” 2021 and in this jousting contest, they are great foils for each other. They have a ball as they hurl abuse at each other. Vasan has a character of substance, who is capable of thinking outside the box and she brings some thoughtful ballast to the overall high jinks proceedings.

These derogatory words are delivered with a forbidden relish and initially surprises but each time the words are repeated or expanded their ability to titillate diminishes. The film makes reference to the vast social upheaval of the First World War and the continuing seismic challenges of the Suffragette movement but these phenomena are not developed. There is at the end a feeling of having watched something that was enjoyable but it could have been so much more so if the complexities of the society which was emerging were better developed. Colman, Buckley and Vasan keep the show on the road with the quality of their acting but the direction from the beginning is to play for laughs. Wicked Little Letters is always engaging but with such a talented cast, it could have shown loftier ambition.