Wicked Little Letters review: Profanity and mystery in 1920s England

“What kind of person does this?”

In the town of Littlehampton, bible-gripping Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) has been receiving malicious letters but who is the culprit?

All evidence points towards Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), a potty-mouthed, beer-swigging, dart-throwing woman with a ‘general attitude of Ireland’ (not a bad thing, in my opinion). However, not everyone is convinced that Gooding is behind the poison pen, so woman police officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) sets out to prove her innocence and find the true culprit.

The main gag in Wicked Little Letters is of course all the swearing but this soon backfires. There is, as my mum would put it, a lot of ‘effing and jeffing’ but while it is great watching Buckley scream profanities that were heinous in 1920s Middle England, it quickly loses its shock value, leaving behind a film that feels quite flat at times.

Luckily, Wicked Little Letters has a redeeming feature that is Olivia Colman. It is an unlikely role for an actress of her prowess but Colman still manages to showcase her award-winning talent. Her final scene had the audience erupting with laughter.

Despite lacking depth and feeling a bit lacklustre at times, Wicked Little Letters certainly had the audience laughing which is sometimes all you want from a film. It was also refreshing to watch a stand-alone film that is in no way linked to the Marvel franchise, or a remake of a classic – a rarity today. It was a great rainy-day viewing (which we need a lot of in Manchester) but steer clear if swearing offends you (maybe not one to watch with the grandparents).

3/5

Wicked Little Letters is in cinemas now.