When people in Littlehampton–including conservative local Edith–begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town’s women investigate.
I should say, upfront, that the letters the title speaks of are a bit childish and would not be funny were it not for the reaction of the residents of this quaint little English town who become recipients of them. In only a few short words, those recipients are literally peppered with as many four-letter words and filthy suggestions as might fit on a small page. In this quaint little village, this has begun happening daily to the residents, most of whom are of the ultra-conservative upbringing seen as quintessential of an earlier time. However, this isn’t exactly a work of fiction. It is based on events that actually happened. Were it not for that, and the acting abilities Buckley and Colman bring to the little story (yes, indeed, little story, the film lasts only 100 minutes!), it wouldn’t necessarily be funny or noteworthy to an audience today.
The “Wicked Little Letters” are penned by someone in the town, and another resident receives the crude and insulting language contained within. All suspicion falls on a new young woman, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), who has moved to the town with her illegitimate young daughter from Ireland and enjoys life as a free spirit. That free spirit of drinking and spurting shocking verbiage and wild behaviors causes the town to look to her as the culprit capable of producing the “wicked little letters.” The village women set out on their own Chaplin-like hunt for the author, causing so much upset. One letter, intended for Edith Swan, is accidentally opened by her mother, who is so overcome by the profanities she collapses and dies.
But this is not intended as a murder mystery. Almost from the start, any dunce of a detective will quickly figure out the author of the letters. That is necessary to experience the blackness of the comedy that follows fully. This is instead the story of repression and the extreme consequences of being tightly reined in, so the only way to become a free spirit like Rose is silently and stealthily through the secret revelry of the letters. There, the letter writer makes her childish and often foolish attempt to seem worldly and rough and untethered by convention. Those attempts are, in the end, unintentionally humorous. Ultimately, it’s not who wrote the letters but why that sparks first interest, then disgust, and lastly, sympathy for the woman so lacking in maturation that she creates chaos in her own life and others. For her, real prison is her way out of her terrible private prison.
Olivia Colman perfectly portrays a soul divided and never at complete peace. The director relies on close-ups of her face so that you see her unexplained emotional battles play out on that field. Jessie Buckley is perfect as the “Wild Irish Rose,” a girl who just wants to have fun. However, though she loves her child desperately, she does not always prove to be the best mother. Timothy Spall is so strictly entertaining until you realize a switch has occurred. He is still the same, but the button-up behavior is no longer funny. “Wicked Little Letters” is a short dip into a comedy noir that takes a while for its black side to sink in. The cinematography and music blend beautifully with the theme, and the actors are a notch above.
In Theaters Friday, April 5th
