Wicked Little Letters (2023)

Wicked Little Letters (2023). 1h 40m | R

“STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awfulu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the 1920u0026#39;s, in the little village of Littlehampton, a scandal erupts where a series of outrageous, insulting, profane letters are sent to local residents. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), a prudish local woman, is especially shocked at the tone of the letters, along with stern head of the household , her father Edward (Timothy Spall.) She has her suspicions, in the shape of Rose (Jessie Buckley), a foul mouthed Irish lady Edith took under her wing and now regrets. Everything seems clear cut, but under the surface, a shocking truth lurks.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDirector Thea Shurrocku0026#39;s homegrown period comedy piece has proven something of a sleeper hit, a seemingly traditional historical yarn, with a subversive twist in its tail, with its intermittent outpourings of hilariously filthy profanity, and even more unbelievably, based on a true life story. With a slew of top flight acting talent heading the bill, including current acting royalty Olivia Colman in the lead role, it definitely has loftier ambitions than just to be a one-joke comedy piece, but in spite of touching on some worthier notes, the sporadic letter sequences and the outrageous belly chuckles they provoke remain its chief selling point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSending up the moral pruriency of the time itu0026#39;s set in as it does, and with the incredulity of the plot line already having it up in arms on the back of this, at the risk of having my review rejected by IMDb, the historical accuracy of the piece feels further compounded, sadly, by the notable minority cast members in key roles, including Anjana Vasan as an Asian female police constable on the hunt for the culprit, which given the setting and the historical timeline, sadly does hinder the believability of things. Itu0026#39;s not distracting enough to see Jonny Sweetu0026#39;s script touch on other worthwhile points, such as peopleu0026#39;s standing in a community affecting peoples judgment of them without proof, as well as hitting on some darker sequences in general that even out the funnier stuff.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor all its loftier praises, itu0026#39;s essentially a novelty film, with its laughs generated from a rather stationary source, but it still hits the nail on the head this way, and when they strike, they do provide an outrageously good chuckle. ***”