Timothy Spall

Wicked Little Letters is a freakin’ hoot of a film that could just as appropriately have been called ‘Women Cursing.’ Loosely based on a true story, it takes place in a small town in England in the 1920’s – a time pre-social media, when a poison pen letter could easily set off a full blown scandal. That this scandal is fueled by the antics of Olivia Colman and Jesse Buckley is what makes the movie so delicious. Colman plays Edith, a Bible-quoting spinster who lives with her parents. Her father is a nightmare, bossing her around and treating her like a child. When she receives anonymous letters calling her names like “foxy ass old whore,” everyone assumes her rebellious young neighbor, Rose (Buckley), wrote them. With its brilliant casting and all the fun of a British mystery, Thea Sharrock’s Wicked Little Letters is pure delight.

There is nothing that either Olivia Colman or Jessie Buckley could possibly do that wouldn’t be worth watching. And now they butt heads onscreen for the first time. I adore Wicked Little Letters, a future comfort movie for me, a flick to revisit when I’m feeling low and in need of a cheerfully indecent, gloriously naughty pick-me-up.

What happens when a filmmaker makes a movie and the studio doesn’t know how to market it? Wicked Little Letters, certainly. When they released the trailer, the film looked like a quirky Brit-com led by Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley spouting pithy one-liners in their 1920’s costumes. Fans of BritBox and Acorn no doubt thought, “What’s not to love?” Be prepared, because that’s not at all what you get with this movie. What you get is dark, dark, and more dark, though delivered with the expertise only the best performers can provide.