Wicked Little Letters
A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a dark and absurd scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, the film follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding. When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.
- Released:
- Runtime: 101 minutes
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Stars: Jessie Buckley, Olivia Colman, Anjana Vasan, Timothy Spall, Joanna Scanlan, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, Alisha Weir, Gemma Jones, Hugh Skinner, Grant Crookes, Paul Chahidi, Jonny Sweet, Tim Key, Jason Watkins, Cyril Nri, Richard Goulding, Tim McMullan
- Director: Thea Sharrock
Comments
- wheatley-20230 - 27 June 2024
Worth going to see Olivia Colman enjoying herself so much!
Olivia Colman is always worth watching and she does not disappoint here. She appears to be having great fun in a part offering such contrasting behaviours. Jessie Buckley and Timothy Spall are also great.
In some ways this is a typically British film: tremendous acting squeezed into a little film about a forgotten incident a century ago. It's lovingly done but you do sometimes ask yourself whether there wasn't a bigger story that would showcase these talents more effectively.
It took me a while to tune in to the comedy, perhaps because of the incessant swearing. I hate gratuitous swearing, but it seemed less offensive than it might have been, perhaps because it is central to the story line and so not actually gratuitous, but also because it is delivered with a kind of innocence.
Worth going to see Olivia Colman enjoying herself so much! - Goloh - 26 May 2024
Glad I didn't live next door
To the reviewers who complain about people like me who didn't think this was a comedy: tough #$%^&! It's a dark (in mood and indoor photography) representation of what was apparently a real situation a century ago. I'll grant that some amusing scenes were planted in there, maybe to keep viewers from fleeing the most concentrated torrent of "language" I've seen in any film in a long time.
Having got that off my mind, acting from key players was excellent, and though the plot and resolution were too predictable, I stuck with it -- mostly to hear how much further those letters could stretch everyone's vocabulary. I didn't really like this film, but appreciated that they all had the nerve to make it.
