Wicked Little Letters: sweary comedy that 'could have been a gem'
Despite enjoyable performances from Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, the film 'glides complacently and wastefully'

"Just over 100 years ago, the genteel Sussex town of Littlehampton was rocked to its core" by a barrage of "obscene letters sent anonymously to respectable townsfolk", said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. "You're a sad, stinky bitch," declared one. "You stink of common shit," claimed another. A culprit was arrested and a trial ensued, followed with delight by a nation still reeling from the Great War.
"Wicked Little Letters", starring Olivia Colman as Edith, a "church-going spinster who still lives with her overbearing father (Timothy Spall) and pious mother (Gemma Jones)", exhumes this "little-remembered scandal". When she begins receiving the letters, Edith soon blames her neighbour Rose (Jessie Buckley), a "fiery" single mother from Ireland. But did Rose write them?
"With a cleverer, wittier script", the film "could have been a gem"; instead it "glides complacently and wastefully over all the social nuances that a better picture might have addressed", and wastes its top-notch cast. "It doesn't take an Einstein" to figure out where "Wicked Little Letters" is heading, said Tom Shone in The Sunday Times – "it's obvious almost from the first frame".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Nonetheless, there is much to enjoy in this "broad, gutsy comedy". Buckley is clearly having "a blast"; and Colman is a delight as a "God-fearing stick-in-the-mud" who eventually becomes so "giddily liberated", she seems "touched by divine spark". The film is "very funny" at first, said Dulcie Pearce in The Sun. "But as the minutes roll on and the tsunami of profanities continues, the laughter turns to a titter. Which then turns to silence." Still, "if you like swearing, then you will f**king love it".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
‘Extraordinary asymmetry’: the history of Israeli prisoner swaps
In The Spotlight Exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees is the latest in a series of trades in which Israeli lives appear to count for more
-
October 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include peace in Palestine, government playoffs, and barking up Pam Bondi's tree
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strong
Talking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
The delightful, smutty world of Jilly Cooper
In the Spotlight Millions mourn the ‘Mrs Kipling of sex’
-
Choose your own wellness adventure in Greater Palm Springs
The Week Recommends Hit the spa, try a sound bath or take a hike
-
A Taylor Swift analysis, the digital-addiction solution plus what it means to be a gay Black artist — all in October books
The Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Taylor’s Version’ by Stephanie Burt, ‘Enshittification’ by Cory Doctorow and ‘Minor Black Figures’ by Brandon Taylor
-
Lee Miller at the Tate: a ‘sexy yet devastating’ show
The Week Recommends The ‘revelatory’ exhibition tells the photographer’s story ‘through her own impeccable eye’
-
6 eye-catching rounded homes
Feature Featuring a central spiral staircase in Michigan and a Balinese-style estate with ocean views in Hawaii
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thriller
The Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: a ‘haunting’ history of modern Afghanistan
The Week Recommends Lyse Doucet’s sensitively written work traces over 50 years of Kabul’s ‘Inter-Con’ hotel
-
The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson is ‘magnetic’ in gritty biopic
The Week Recommends The wrestler-turned-Hollywood-actor takes on the role of troubled UFC champion Mark Kerr