South & Canal Winchester Messenger - April 21st, 2024

www.columbusmessenger.com
“Wicked Little Letters” is a
throwback to British comedy
Have you ever written a mean letter to
someone? I definitely have.
Over the course of my lifetime, I have
written hundreds — possibly thousands — of
letters to those who have disappointed me.
They have been addressed to a wide variety
of individuals and they include my
mother, my father, my sister, myself, my
friends, my boyfriends, my ex-boyfriends,
my teachers, my bosses, politicians, the
executives behind the decision to discontinue
my favorite facial moisturizer, and
other random people who have met me on
a bad day, or vice versa.
It is not lost on me that the sheer volume
of letters produced may come across
as slightly psychotic, but please know that
none of them were actually sent. In fact,
the vast majority of the letters were composed
within my head and this exercise primarily
serves as a way for me to blow off
steam in order to spare the feelings of others.
Not that some on the aforementioned
list did not deserve a strong tongue lashing.
The reason why I am sharing a favored
coping mechanism with you all is because I
am reviewing a movie for this column that
revolves around mean letters. But in the
case of the aptly titled “Wicked Little
Letters,” the slighted party mailed out
those missives, causing a huge firestorm in
the process. (Note: This is why we sometimes
keep things to ourselves.)
The black comedy is based on a true story
of a scandal that rocked the town of
Littlehampton, England in the early 1920s. It
is a tale that is so bizarre that it seems completely
made up — but it isn’t. What director
Thea Sharrock and writer Jonny Sweet do
well is adapt the events in a way that maintains
all of its raucous and filthy humor while
also highlighting the internal and external
biases that make the individuals of this time
period behave the way they do.
At the center of this twisted and true
tale are two women, Edith Swan (Olivia
Colman) and Rose Gooding (Jessie
Buckley). Edith has been a resident of this
sleepy seaside town her entire life, never
marrying and still living under the thumb
of her domineering father Edward
(Timothy Spall) and her kind but passive
mother Victoria (Gemma Jones). Raised in
a devoutly religious household, Edith has a
buttoned-up personality and only lives to
serve the Lord and her jerk of a dad.
One day, a boisterous woman named
Rose moves in next door to the Swan family.
A migrant from Ireland, she is “what people
feared women would become after the war
ended.” Despite the fact that she drinks like
a fish, swears like a sailor, and seldom
cleans the shared outhouse, Rose is a wonderful
mother to her young daughter Nancy
(Alisha Weir) and a great friend to Edith —
possibly her first true friend in the world.
But something happens to cause a deep
rift in the friendship and shortly thereafter
The Reel Deal
obscene letters start
showing up on
Edith’s doorstep.
Naturally, the Swan
family believes that
Rose is the author of
the filthy and anonymous
missives and
they implore the
police to arrest her for
the sake of “all that is
decent in the world.”
Dedra
Cordle
When presented
with the working theory that she is behind
the vulgar letters — they read as if William
Shakespeare and George Carlin teamed up
to create a book of insults — Rose cannot
help but wonder if this is a joke being
played on her. “Why would I send letters
when I’ll just say it to your face?” she asks.
But because the police cannot stand
Rose and the “suffragette” attitude they
feel is poisoning their post-war nation,
they arrest her and charge her with the
crime of sending obscene letters. The only
law enforcement official who is sure of her
innocence is “woman police officer” Gladys
Moss (Anjana Vasan). Knowing that Rose
is quite poor and cannot afford to send so
many letters, she tries to talk some sense
into her male coworkers and superiors.
However, they view her as “only a woman”
and dismiss her theories. Although
stymied by the antiquated views on her
gender, Gladys sets out to prove Rose’s
innocence and find the true perpetrator
behind the wicked little letters.
In the lead up to its release date last
week, “Wicked Little Letters” has tried to
bill itself as a mystery but it really is more
like a throwback British comedy. The real
culprit behind the 1920s troll campaign is
obvious from the get-go but that does not
detract from the overall delight of this
movie. Even though the direction and the
writer is quite deft, the movie truly succeeds
thanks to the skills of its stellar
ensemble cast, all of whom take great
delight in the verbal sparring, the
sleuthing, and the tidal wave of obscenities
that are unleashed in this film.
Because of the vulgarities that run rampant
throughout its 95 minute run time,
“Wicked Little Letters” will likely not be
for those who find that kind of humor
unappealing. But if you can get your ears
to hear past all that lewd noise, you will be
witnessing a really delightful movie about
making and losing friends, and about
women straining under the pressure of a
society that is designed to keep them quietly
at home, with nary a bad word floating
around in their heads.
Grade: B+
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer
and columnist.
April 21, 2024 - SOUTH & CANAL WINCHESTER MESSENGER - PAGE 7