Wicked Little Letters is a British satire comedy with very talented and charismatic leads. The film stars Academy Award Winner Olivia Colman and Academy Award Nominee Jessie Buckley, along with Anjana Vasan as the Policewoman investigating the whole situation and brilliant veteran British actor Timothy Spall as the father of Olivia Colman’s Edith. It deals with the consequences of a bunch of letters that get sent out that are offensive and provocative, especially in an era where women were constantly judged and not always treated equally or fairly, to put it mildly. This is set in a coastal town in the south of England in the 1920’s and deals with how rumors, innuendos, and spiteful hearsay can have serious and comedic consequences in a community with an assortment of eccentric townsfolk. The chemistry between the leading ladies in the ensemble cast is what really carries this film, especially the creative ways profanity is used in the dialogue, which I found thoroughly entertaining and not too crass and made sense within the story which was based on true events of a 1920’s scandal.
WICKED Meaning: Morally wrong and bad.
WICKED LITTLE LETTERS Official Synopsis from Studio Canal :
Director Thea Sharrock
Starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Timothy Spall, Malachi Kirby, Eileen Atkins, Anjana Vasan
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, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foulmouthed 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 (Anjana Vasan) – begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.
Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman spoke about their characters in depth and and about working with each other in the recent press tour for the movie in a interview with The Big Issue magazine. both Colman and Buckley had previously worked together on a previous film for Netflix: The Lost Daughter in which they were both Oscar nominated for. They struck up a friendship and chemistry which carried over to this project in which Olivia Colman was also a producer on. Wicked Little Letters is currently available to watch in cinemas.
(Read Below from a part of the interview)
Olivia Colman:
“I loved what it was saying about people’s perception of others. You make judgements on how someone looks or where they come from which are invariably wrong. It has always happened, it’s nothing new. But why the hell are we still doing it? Why haven’t we learned not to hurt each other and make judgements?“
Jessie Buckley:
“I guess people act that way for a reason as well. In the film, you can’t judge these women for their actions because they’re just trying to find a way to be OK… oh someone’s given me a thumbs-up!?“
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