Wicked Little Letters (2023)

This is a delightful British comedy/drama which could have been in danger of meandering off into Last of the Summer Wine territory in a tired old BBC kind of way but doesn't, because of the way in which it's been produced, written, directed and shot. It's ended up instead a decidedly large cut above that drivel of yesteryear.

Apparently based on truth and a book written by Christopher Hilliard entitled The Littlehampton Libels: A Miscarriage of Justice and a Mystery about Words in 1920s England, the story takes us back to the 1920's and the south coast of England seaside town of Littlehampton (which I happen to know well). It's the tale of two families who live next door to each other, one headed by a wild and fiesty immigrant from Ireland following WWI and the other a puritanical religious bunch, not sure whether or not they can cope with those next door or not!

Edith Swan, the ageing daughter in the latter of the households, keeps getting letters through the post packed with obscenities and insults. Rose Gooding, the foul-mouthed Irish girl is squarely nominated by anyone who knows about the events as the guilty party and responsible for the deeds. Edith is played by Olivia Colman (The Night Manager, Tyrannosaur, Empire of Light) and Rose, Jessie Buckley (Men, Fingernails, I'm Thinking of Ending Things).

The local incompetent police force don't quite know what to do about it, under pressure from some of the townsfolk and Edith's father to arrest Rose for the 'crime' of libel! The boss is trying to hold the force's actions together, staffed by the buffoon Constable Papperwick, played by Hugh Skinner (The Romanoffs), with rookie 'woman police officer' Gladys Moss, played by Anjana Vasan - seemingly the only one with a brain between them! In the end, they give into social pressure and arrest Rose, throw her in jail, only for the women townsfolk to club together to raise the bail and get her out whilst she awaited trial.

Gladys isn't happy and thinks she knows that Rose is innocent, so heads off, with no permission, to investigate. This gets her suspended, but also presents her with a golden opportunity to team up with the women of the town in order to investigate and clear Rose's name.

In the midst of all this, we get an insight into the racist and sexist behaviour and attitudes of the time and place, around the era of the Suffragette Movement, raising awareness in enlightened circles of things to come regarding value-bases and equality of human beings. The filmmakers may have taken this a step too far, perhaps for further emphasis of those issues by placing people from ethnic minorities into key roles in the story/film, like Gladys and the judge in the court, particularly, which was very highly unlikely to be the case in that prejudiced era.

Timothy Spall (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) plays Edith's father, Edward, ruling his household, centred around religion and alleged moral high-ground, with wife Victoria, played by Gemma Jones, under his thumb alongside Edith - their individuality well and truly stamped out. It is clear that the women of the house don't dare step out of line, do as he says and what is expected of them - or face his wrath and punishment/correction.

It's actually a very funny film partly because of the profanities in the letters which are read out aloud by the most unlikely people in the mix, the characters shocking themselves that they could even utter such words. The biggest laugh out loud moments are centred around this and, yes, that runs out of steam eventually. But there's enough else too, as the comic antics of the ladies swinging into action to uncover what they think to be the truth, gets underway.

The mainly British cast do a fabulous job, every one of them. Jessie Buckley is hilarious throughout and Olivia Colman similarly, but dark and eerie when she needs to be. They're the two leads, but Timothy Spall is quite superb in his nasty character's role, Hugh Skinner convincing as the numbskull and there's other actors popping in and out who you will, no doubt, recognise - such as Jason Watkins (The Last Honour of Christopher Jefferies).

The sets are delightful as well, with fine attention to detail for the town at that time in history, the vehicles, clothing and muted colours. Director Thea Sharrock brings the very best out of the cast - they all look like they're having great fun with the project - and keeps the visuals interesting - and somewhat artistic. It really is a lovely film. Hopefully the new kind of British entertainment, so that we can put the old and tired to bed. Highly recommended.