Rating: R | Runtime: 100 minutes
Release Date: February 23rd, 2024 (UK) / March 29th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: StudioCanal / Sony Pictures Classics
Director(s): Thea Sharrock
Writer(s): Jonny Sweet

Why would I send a letter when I can just say it?

Edward Swan (Timothy Spall) knew the end of the war would bring “bad seeds” from Ireland to their sleepy neighborhood of Littlehampton and, sure enough, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) moved right next door. The interesting part of the “truer than you’d think” Wicked Little Letters, as written by Jonny Sweet and directed by Thea Sharrock, however, is that Edward’s eldest daughter Edith (Olivia Colman) rather likes this new stranger. And why not? Edith cares for her aging parents (Gemma Jones is mom Victoria) as though a slave with no life of her own. Seeing Rose’s independence is inspiring. Hearing her brashly put men like Edward in their place is exhilarating.

And then come the letters. Nineteen of them before the Swans finally get the police involved. Each proves more profane than the next—scandalizing Victoria, embarrassing Edward into fits of rage, and forcing Edith to embrace God’s good grace to help pull her through. Who could be so rude besides Rose, of course? Being known for speaking her mind doesn’t necessarily scream innocence, but her penchant for doing so to her victims’ faces doesn’t scream anonymous either. With no concrete evidence or any other suspects, however, the Constable places Rose under arrest pending trial while her daughter (Alisha Weir’s Nancy) wonders if she’ll ever come back home.

The trajectory of this case is hardly surprising once things get going, but it nevertheless entertains from start to finish. You have Edith’s friends questioning the validity of the accusation to clear Rose’s name. There’s “Woman Police Officer” Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) being silenced and punished by her superiors despite catching that the handwriting doesn’t match, forcing her to do her own private investigating. And there are the secret (and not so secret) histories of the two polar opposite women at the center. Rose’s mysterious husband who died in the war. Edith’s fear and compliance at the demands of her domineering father. Even when the truth does get discovered, the guilty party maintains our sympathy.

It’s a funny bit of sleuthing with a lively cast of familiar faces (those aforementioned friends are Eileen Atkins, Joanna Scanlan, and Lolly Adefope) that earns its dramatic moments as a result of some fantastic performances balancing the tone to perfection. The letters themselves are a hoot and actually prove more entertaining via the shock expressions and/or bile thrown by those who dare read them. And in the end its very much a journey of female empowerment wherein Moss refuses to be disregarded because of her gender or allow a group of bumbling, lazy men (Hugh Skinner) to persecute a woman who, despite being rough around the edges, deserves her fair shake.

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Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley in WICKED LITTLE LETTERS; courtesy of Parisa Taghizadeh & Sony Pictures Classics.