Wicked Little Letters

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There is a lot of nastiness in the world that might never really go away because as a species humans are stubborn, overtly wary of change, and creatures of habit. Things like overzealous religious mania, misogyny, radicalism, racism, and self-loathing. But we can take some comfort in the idea of #notallhumans and that we have the artistic mediums of literature, art, and film to depict these kinds of harmful and poisonous characteristics of our species and hopefully, pique the human desire for change, progression, and evolution.

This line of thought was inspired last night by a strange and impressive little film that I watched that was based on a true story: Wicked Little Letters.

The film follows Edith Swan (Olivia Coleman) a sweet and conservative woman who becomes the victim of hate mail. Blame is immediately placed upon her neighbour, foul-mouthed, Irish single mother Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) who is arrested and put on trial. Rose is adamant that she is innocent and when police officer Gladys Moss notices discrepancies in the handwriting of Rose and the letter-writer, she embarks on a clandestine investigation to find out who the real author is.

This devilish black comedy tells an intriguing true story that I’m sure most people have not heard about. A confronting and strange little whodunnit, it’s set in England during the 1920s: a time that, for most people, was filled with fun, jazz, and freedom after the war and before the hell of the Great Depression. However, the Roaring ‘20s apparently did not extend to the town of Littlehampton where prejudice, ostracism, racism, and misogyny were ruling overlords. Despite the story taking a bit of a Mean Girls twist when Edith, being celebrated as a martyr, discovers from her friends that she’s not as well-liked as she thought, the real villain is the amount of injustice, inequality, and infuriating lack of basic respect that each woman in the cast suffers. Rose is shunned for being an Irish immigrant and single mother. Gladys is constantly being downtrodden by her misogynist superiors at the station. Edith’s whist group each receive looks of scorn and disapproval for not returning to being proper, upstanding ladies after the war. And Edith herself suffers constant abuse from her controlling father, played unnervingly well by Timothy Spall.

What makes the movie so intriguing and refreshing is that it’s a film about women overcoming adversity, but not in a romanticised, sisterly type of way. This is certainly no First Wives Club, Hidden Figures or A League of Their Own. What makes Wicked Little Letters so fascinating (and funny) is probably the fact that these woman don’t particularly like one another, but band together because the crap that is constantly being shoveled their way by the patriarchy is worse than their personal distaste for one another.

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While the themes and depictions of sexism, racism, and familial tyranny are confronting and very uncomfortable for the modern audience, the film cleverly sprinkles in delightful moments of comedy that help to lift the mood. Admittedly they are small and sometime far between, but they carry such weight that the smile sparked by them stays planted on your face for a good couple of scenes.

The performances are all excellent. Coleman is sweet and selfless, yet there is always something going on underneath her shining eyes and smile. Buckley provides a glorious contrast being loud, crass, and delightfully brazen. And then there is the prim and perfectly mannered Gladys played by Anjana Vasan. There’s a professional veneer about her all the time, but inside you know she is constantly screaming, she’s just wonderful to watch.

A more dramatic and quirky black comedy, Wicked Little Letters is a very enjoyable film.

Director: Thea Sharrock, 2023

Cast: Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Alisha Weir, Paul Chahidi, Eileen Atkins, Lolly Adefope, Joanna Scanlan, Hugh Skinner & Timothy Spall