Wicked Little Letters
2023
**
Director: Thea Sharrock
Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Timothy Spall, Gemma Jones, Eileen Atkins, Joanna Scanlan, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Alisha Weir, Hugh Skinner, Paul Chahidi
In 1920, residents of an English seaside town begin to receive obscene and foul-mouthed anonymous letters. A devout Christian spinster living with her parents becomes the main target, and suspicion soon falls on her neighbour, a single Irish mother with a sharp tongue. This horribly heavy-handed comedy mystery about prejudice and hypocrisy may be based on the real-life Littlehampton libels, but its historical accuracy is dubious — the diverse cast and socially progressive attitudes clearly reflect contemporary values. The men in this patriarchal world are all disgusting misogynists, yet no one seems to have a racist bone in their body. The characters are painfully one-note and the farcical humour, built almost entirely on the characters spewing expletives, failed to make me laugh.
