Wicked Little Letters

Wicked Little Letters, we learn, is based on a true story from about 100 years ago. It must have been a very different time. If it happened now, it would be a total non-event that wouldn’t make any noise. Back then, it was a town-wide scandal that involved jail time and trials.

Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley were nominated for Oscars for playing the older and younger versions of the same character in The Lost Daughter, and now we get to see them star opposite each other. We’re in the small English town of Littlehampton, circa 1920. Colman plays Edith - middle-aged, and living at home with her elderly parents. Their next door neighbor is the loud, blunt, outspoken Irish immigrant Rose (Buckley), a single mother to a young girl. Edith begins receiving anonymous letters in the mail. You almost have to admire how creatively obscene they are, with their insinuations of relationships with farm animals, or speculation of objects stored in bodily orifices. After a while, these letters are no longer limited to just Edith. They make the rounds throughout the town. Because this is England in the early 1900s, they are bloodywell offended, and must get the constables and po-lice involved.

Rose gets apprehended as the prime suspect. Being unwed and a bit of a pistol, it’s all too easy to blame her. But not everyone believes she did it. Officer Gladys Moss has her doubts, and wants to low-key investigate on her own. Anjana Vasan (Cyrano, Spider-Man: Far from Home) is marvelous as Moss, just trying to get a word in edgewise while the men in the department scoff at her theories and ask her to file something or make them tea. I like the way they start to tell a dirty joke, then cut it short when she walks into the room, only to have her say “No, carry on. Sounded like a good one.” I’ve grown very tired of movies that have a commentary on the patriarchy, but this is one of the better uses of that theme.

That’s what works. Otherwise, it took a while for the match to ignite for me. Though the script is sharp and quite funny (particularly the colorful metaphors within the letters), I couldn’t understand the hullabaloo. It immediately occurred to me (but not the characters) that this could be put to bed quickly by having any potential suspects write something down on the spot, so handwriting can be compared side-by-side. For some reason, penmanship comparisons don’t hold water in court. Convenient, huh? That’s a way to give us more movie. Two-thirds of the way through, something happens to somebody, seemingly just because of a letter they got. By this point, we’ve learned the identity of the author. I completely didn’t buy a) why they would do this and b) how it would have that result. Wicked Little Letters poses numerous logistical questions, while frequently playing like a very thinly-veiled opportunity to have Colman and Buckley be their Colmanest and Buckliest selves on screen. I questioned whether I was going to recommend the movie.

I am, though. It ends up sticking the landing and coming to life with enough wit and chemistry to bring it home. I’m officially a Jessie Buckley fan. She is a spunky firecracker, currently one of the best you’ll see on the silver screen. Colman is a strong, lovely presence. These are two of my favorite actresses working today. Wicked Little Letters is a mixed bag, to be sure, with some good stuff buried at the bottom.