Wicked Little Letters [Review]
Wicked Little Letters is light and entertaining but largely forgettable.
Olivia Colman as Edith Swan, Gemma Jones as Victoria Swan. Image: Parisa Taghizadeh. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Based on a hilarious true story, Wicked Little Letters shows us the events of a small town scandal in 1920s England through the eyes of three women of different circumstances. The film is an enjoyable, light affair that unfortunately doesn’t measure up to the promise of its inspiration.
The film takes place in the 1920s in Littlehampton, a quaint English village. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), a conservative and religious woman, begins receiving anonymous letters full of profanity-laden personal insults; the contents are scandalous for the characters in their place in time, but hilarious to a modern audience. Edith accuses her boisterous and free-spirited neighbor, Irish immigrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). Rose goes to trial, and as more townspeople begin receiving letters, the scandal gets national attention and the local authorities are itching to lay the blame and close the case. Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) suspects that Rose may not be the culprit and investigates against her superiors’ orders to get to the bottom of what’s really happening.
Jessie Buckley as Rose Gooding. Image: Parisa Taghizadeh. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Each of the lead characters is a women who faces hardship through the repression she experiences; each is held back by the societal rules by which she’s expected to play. Edith withers under the thumb of her father, fitting in the religiously pious, upstanding box that he imagines her in, unable to be independent, adventurous, or spontaneous. Edith and the other townspeople suspect Rose because of her status as an immigrant and her refusal to be “lady-like;” she swears loudly, doesn’t keep a tidy house, and gets drunk at the pub with all the men, all while being a single mother. Gladys is a cop, but instead of being addressed as Officer, she is Woman Police Officer, unable to do most duties without express permission of a superior; she’s not even allowed to carry handcuffs. The way each of the ladies operates in, responds to, or lashes out against these things that hold them back is the most interesting part of the film.
Anjana Vasan as Gladys Moss. Image: Parisa Taghizadeh. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Colman and Buckley shine here, bringing out the humor of the script in their performances. Timothy Spall as Edward Swan, Edith Swan’s father, was also a highlight. Otherwise, the film and its dialogue aren’t as funny as I would have hoped, failing to measure up to the inherent absurdity of the true story. Likewise, Thea Sharrock’s direction is unremarkable. She doesn’t do anything to elevate the material; perhaps she was a mismatch here, as most of her recent films are forgettable schmaltz.
It’s disappointing when a film doesn’t deliver on its promise. While it’s entertaining, Wicked Little Letters will be largely forgotten, except as a footnote in the filmography of the outstanding actors who did all they could to elevate the movie and deliver on that promise.
Wicked Little Letters is in theaters now.
