Wicked Little Letters

Wicked Little Letters
Film poster
Directed by	Thea Sharrock
Written by	Jonny Sweet
Produced by	Graham Broadbent Peter Czernin Ed Sinclair Olivia Colman Jo Wallett
Starring	Olivia Colman Jessie Buckley Anjana Vasan Joanna Scanlan Gemma Jones Malachi Kirby Lolly Adefope Eileen Atkins Timothy Spall
Cinematography	Ben Davis
Edited by	Melanie Oliver
Music by	Isobel Waller-Bridge[1]
Production companies	Film4 Blueprint Pictures South of the River Pictures People Person Pictures
Distributed by	StudioCanal
Release dates	9 September 2023 (2023-09-09) (TIFF) 23 February 2024 (2024-02-23) (United Kingdom)
Running time	100 minutes[2]
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$12.6 million[3]
Box office	$26.7 million[4][5]

Wicked Little Letters is a 2023 British black comedy mystery film directed by Thea Sharrock, written by Jonny Sweet and starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins and Timothy Spall. Based on the real-life Littlehampton libels, it follows an investigation into the anonymous author of numerous crudely insulting letters sent to the residents of the seaside town of Littlehampton.^[6][7][8][9]

Wicked Little Letters premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom by StudioCanal on 23 February 2024. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

In 1920, during the suffragette movement in Britain, Edith Swan, a spinster and devout Christian in Littlehampton, becomes the target of hate mail, an issue of great distress to her controlling father Edward and gentle mother Victoria. Having endured 19 such letters filled with profanities, Edward seeks the assistance of the local police. They suspect their neighbour, the single mother and Irish migrant Rose Gooding, as the sender.

Highlighting Rose's infamous proclivity for swearing, Edith testifies that she and Rose initially shared a friendship regardless of their differences. This friendship abruptly ended following an episode in which Rose head-butted one of Edward's guests at his birthday party. This was followed by a visit from the local child protection services acting on a tip; believing Edith had called them, Rose ended the friendship.

Rose is arrested. Since she can't afford bail, Rose is remanded ahead of her trial, set to take place in two-and-a-half months. She leaves her daughter Nancy in the care of Bill, her partner. A police officer, Gladys Moss, is sceptical about Rose's involvement, noticing differences between Rose's handwriting and that of the letters. Her observations are dismissed by her misogynistic superior Chief Constable Spedding, who forbids her from investigating.

Gladys meets Edith's friends Ann, Mabel and Kate for insight. Kate detests her, but Ann and Mabel are more sympathetic. Rose initially attempts to seek Gladys' help but is rebuffed; Ann and Mabel bail her out anyway. Immediately upon Rose's release, Edward and other Littlehampton residents begin receiving similar letters and blame Rose. The case swiftly becomes a national sensation, catching the attention of Westminster and the press. Gladys finally agrees to help Rose, noting the discrimination they have faced.

Privately, Edith is revealed to be the sender, having orchestrated the affair to channel her repressed anger towards Edward's maltreatment of her. She writes another letter to herself, only for it to be intercepted by an unknowing Victoria, who collapses and dies after reading the letter. While concluding the police formalities, Gladys notices similarities between Edith's signature and the letters; again, her claims are dismissed by Spedding, who suspends her from duty. Undeterred, Gladys enlists Ann, Mabel and Kate to investigate privately, albeit without Rose's involvement. Edith evades Gladys and outsmarts her while posting another letter. On the eve of her trial, Rose finally discovers the ruse when she notices that the distinctive form of the letter G on a commercial sign that Edith had painted earlier is identical to that in the letters.

During the trial, Rose admits her infamy for her profuse vulgarities, noting she would have communicated them verbally rather than write the anonymous letters. Her defence counsel also points to Edith's handwriting but is dismissed. The prosecution corners Rose by revealing Nancy's true origins as an illegitimate child and not the daughter of a killed Great War soldier, as Rose had previously claimed. The revelation upsets both Nancy and Bill.

Later, Edith confronts Edward over his control, he was the one who tipped off child services on Rose; he shuts her up. The next day, Gladys and the trio realise Edith would write a final letter and thus prepare stamps marked with specially-prepared invisible ink for Edith to use, which she falls for. Rose flees when Spedding attempts to arrest her prematurely. She corners Edith over her trickery, culminating in their exchanging foul language; nonetheless, the letter is posted. Gladys has her niece, Winnie, intercept it inside the mailbox, and she then demonstrates Edith's culpability by revealing the special ink, resulting in Edith's arrest and Rose's exoneration.

Following the trial, the two women share a civil moment; Edith regrets the end of the friendship, explaining she meant no harm. She manages a final, defiant moment against Edward by cursing at him publicly, much to his shock and Rose's glee.

A textual epilogue reveals Edith was sentenced to twelve months hard labour, Rose was never accused again, and Gladys was commended for her actions.

The story and social context behind the plot had been explored in two books by historian Emily Cockayne, Cheek by Jowl: A History of Neighbours and Penning Poison: A History of Anonymous Letters.^[10]

The film was announced in May 2022, with Thea Sharrock set to direct, with Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley starring.^[11] In September, the cast was rounded out with Anjana Vasan, Timothy Spall, Gemma Jones and Eileen Atkins among the additions.^[12]

Production began in September 2022 and continued till early October in Arundel and Worthing, with some scenes filmed in and around the former Crown Court in Aylesbury. Ben Davis served as cinematographer.^[12][13][14] Principal photography took place on Stage 1 of Pinewood Studios.^[15][16]

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023.^[17][18]

In November 2023, Sony Pictures Classics acquired North American and Chinese distribution rights, after its sister company Stage 6 Films acquired international rights in various countries including Latin America, Scandinavia, Asia (excluding China), Eastern Europe, the CIS and the Baltics.^[19][20]

The film was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2024.^[21] The movie was added to Netflix in the United Kingdom and the United States through first window deals with respective distributors on 26 and 27 July.^[22]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 165 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Thanks largely to a strong cast that leans into the story's humorous side, Wicked Little Letters is a diverting comedy even if the mystery at its core isn't particularly clever."^[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[24]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and wrote, "The chief delight in Wicked Little Letters is watching Colman and Buckley in action; it's really not much of a mystery, as the culprit is revealed to us long before the townsfolk catch on."^[25]

• Le Corbeau (1943 film)

• Wicked Little Letters at IMDb