Wicked Little Letters

July 30, 2024 - With the advent of email, DMs and texts, it's easy for the art of letter writing to get lost. Thankfully, we have Olivia Colman to remind us how downright delicious a poison pen can be.

Colman co-stars with Jessie Buckley in Wicked Little Letters, released here in the US back in April. This R-rated film is based on a real-life mystery that captivated England for a time a few years after the end of World War I.

Colman plays Edith Swan, a middle-aged spinster who lives with her strict parents in the seaside town of Littlehampton. Buckley is Rose Gooding, the Irish single mom who moves in next door with her boyfriend and daughter.

Around the time Rose moves in, Edith starts receiving letters filled with very foul profanity. A few others in town also get letters, but the venom is mostly directed at Edith. Edith points the finger at Rose, but a few of the townsfolk and an ambitious lady copper use the old invisible ink trick to find the real culprit.

Overall review: *** There's not a lot of what you might call action here, but the film is fast-moving and laugh-out-loud funny in spots. It clocks in at 1:40, but it goes by so fast that a little more time spent fleshing out the details wouldn't have hurt.