Wicked Little Letters

After playing two versions of the same character in The Lost Daughter, Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley finally share the screen in Wicked Little Letters.

Based on a true story in 1920s Littlehampton, the dark comedy stars Colman as Edith Swan, a highly religious woman living at home with her cruel father Edward (Timothy Spall). Next door lives Rose Gooding (Buckley) a rowdy Irish woman with a young daughter Nancy (Alisha Weir) and new boyfriend Bill (Malachi Kirby).

When Edith receives rude and indecent letters in the post, she points the finger at the most obvious person – the potty-mouthed Rose. The male police officers don’t take much convincing, but Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), the first woman on the force, doesn’t think Rose did it. Despite her superiors urging her to leave the case alone, Moss takes it upon herself to find the real culprit.

Wicked Little Letters is an amusing tale elevated by its central trio of performances. However,...