My Thoughts on Wicked Little Letters

When deeply conservative local Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Irish migrant 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 woman police officer Gladys Moss, begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect something is amiss and Rose may not be the culprit after all.

Now, if you don't like profanity, you're immediately going to want to skip this. The whole plot revolves around letters that sound like they were copied from conversations overheard by drunken sailors. They're vulgar, profane.

Honestly, though, really hilarious. Now, Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are the two main leads, where Colman plays Edith, this mousy spinster who lives with her overbearing father, who's played by Timothy Spall. She's downtrodden, kept under her father's controlling thumb, and she lacks a ton of confidence.

Now, Buckley, on the other hand, is Rose, an Irish immigrant whose first language appears to be profanity. Buckley is free-spirited, outspoken, wild, energetic. She's also not afraid of the patriarchy and lives her life that way.

She's raising a young daughter and happens to share a wall and then an outhouse with Edith and her family. When Edith begins to get explicit letters, the entire town believes it's Rose, simply based on her outward behavior. But then the sole female police officer has doubts about Rose's guilt and begins her own investigation, bringing in several of the other women of the town to assist.

Now, surprisingly, for as outlandish as this story comes across, it's based on actual events. And I think that makes it even funnier. I mean, I laughed a bunch through this, and not just because people are spouting profanity.

The dialogue is witty and clever, and then it's delivered in ways that are perfectly timed. And some of it reminds me of how Edgar Wright writes his films. Dialogue that's quirky and awkward, but executed so that it can maximize the quick humor.

Now, a large undercurrent of the story is social commentary, speaking out against the oppressive patriarchy that was present in this town at that time. Now, it may still exist there, I don't know. But there are countless examples of these types of toxic mindsets on display all over the Internet.

So it makes the points very applicable even for today. Now, the story moves along pretty quickly. It's not rushed necessarily, but there's not much downtime where we just sit with pondering drama.

Even when there are slower sequences, where we just watch a character in a static location, there's voiceover to augment the scene and provide complementary context. Now, this helps with the efficiency of the narrative, and then it makes good use of the hour and 40 minute run time. There are some excellent edits in this to showcase banter or arguments back and forth.

The camera switches with exacting beats that can feel a bit like ping pong, but also allows us to be intimate observers watching two people verbally go at it. Now, outside of Coleman and Buckley, a few of the other standouts are Ajana Fasan, Joanna Scanlon, Timothy Spall, as I mentioned before, Lolly Atifope and Hugh Skinner. Now, Spall is an absolutely atrocious persona, and he definitely creates a character that is insanely easy to despise.

The others bring good levity that's typically delivered in that British, dry sort of way, which I think if you like British humor, this one's spot on. Now, for as much as I laughed throughout this, there does come a point that is covered in both sadness and then contempt. One character is sympathetic, but then also works against that, creating a sort of emotional dilemma for the audience.

Now, I understand why they did what they did, the character that is. But at the same time, the attitude after that, it's mean and off-putting. And all in all, I think the complexity does work because it helps to invest us in the character and then makes us question whether or not we should be rooting for them.

Now, because this involves a crime, there is a legal proceeding that we get to watch. To maintain consistency and tone, this is both aggravating and funny. The interactions are designed to elicit ire because of injustice, but also to create laughs because of responses that are so matter of factly given.

So overall, Wicked Little Letters is a crafty and smart comedy that blends in drama and societal commentary, all while delivering laugh out loud moments. Coleman and Buckley are exceptional in both their timing and characterizations, convincingly portraying rebellion and oppression, making them exceedingly endearing. The supporting cast provides clever wit that adds to both the drama and comedy, creating a balanced narrative that's sure to delight. I think the movie deserves a rating of 8/10.

I was surprised by how much I laughed with this. I really hope that you have a blast with it too. There's some sex, brief nudity, tiny bit of violence, and then an abundance of profanity though. I'll close the curtains here.

Sources of Images IMDB