Olivia Colman Is Hilarious in New British Black Comedy Mystery Wicked Little Letters
Everyone who knows me knows that every Tuesday, I ditch my kids and my husband, hit the gym, and then go see whatever movie happens to be playing around 6 pm. This week, I saw Wicked Little Letters with Olivia Colman, and I’m so glad I did. I highly recommend you go see it. Maybe ditch your kids and husband and hit the gym, too.
Wicked Little Letters Is A Delightful Dark Comedy
I knew little about Wicked Little Letters going in except that Olivia Colman was in it and that it was doing well on Rotten Tomatoes — it currently has a 79 percent. I saw something in the synopsis about hilariously vulgar letters going around a small town in England, that the cast was primarily female, and that it was a dark comedy. Sold.
Still, this movie turned out to be so much more.
Hilariously Vulgar Letters
Wicked Little Letters is set in post-WWI England, in a deeply religious community filled with war veterans, widows, and women who took up the roles of men while they were away at war. We come into the film in a small, dark room in a small house with three family members sitting at a table. A letter sits on the table before them, and the mother, father, and daughter, Edith Swan, played by Olivia Colman, all look a bit afraid.
They open the letter to find it is like the dozen or so that have apparently arrived for Edith, filled with vulgar insults. What is hilarious about this moment is that the “vulgarity” is quite tame and a bit confusing. The letter says things like “foxy ass” and “country whore.” It’s as if a young girl has written the slurs.
Former Friends, Bitter Enemies
Still, the family is determined that it is the next-door neighbor, Rose Gooding, a young widowed mother with a daughter and a strapping man living with her. The letters are taken to the police, and Rose is arrested, ripped from her child, and taken to jail to await trial because she can’t pay the three-pound bail.
It is at this point that we get the back story and the backgrounds of the important characters at play. Rose and Edith had at first been friends. Rose is wild, with a loud, smart mouth filled with cuss words. She is lusty, she loves drinking in the pub, and she adores her 12-year-old daughter. Edith is pious, devoted to her parents, and firmly under the thumb of her stern, misogynist father.
A Mystery To Unravel
When the wicked little letters begin arriving, the women are pitted against each other in a feud that seems to have no good end. Edith becomes a rising star as the good Christian victim in her county, and Rose seems to only sink deeper in public opinion. Soon, the letters start showing up at the homes of dozens of other members of the community, making matters worse.
The saving grace in this film is the handful of women, including “Woman Police Officer Moss,” who are determined to prove Rose’s innocence. The result is mystery, madness, and mayhem, with men discounting the intelligence and women overcoming. The humor is witty, the emotion is real, and the best part of it all is that this movie is based on a true story!
Girl Power And Dark Humor
REVIEW SCORE
Olivia Colman won my heart in Wonka as the dour-faced Mrs. Scrubbit, but I have enjoyed her in previous appearances. And I was delighted to discover Jessie Buckley as Rose, perfectly suited for the role. Anjana Vasan is also delightful as the quietly driven Officer Moss. The cast makes this movie what it is, delivering lines adeptly, with Colman’s character arc taking the most interesting turns.
Of all the Tuesday films I’ve seen in recent months, Wicked Little Letters has got to be my favorite. I give it 5/5 stars for girl power, dark humor, and storyline. However, Colman’s facial expressions alone make this movie worth watching.
