Wicked Little Letters

 

Wicked Little Letters

I watched this 2023 black comedy on Netflix on Sunday. It has an excellent cast, headed by Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, supported admirably by a plethora of first-class actors, including Anjana Vasan, Timothy Spall, Joanna Scanlan, Eileen Atkins, Gemma Jones, and Jason Watkins.

Set just after the end of the First World War, in Littlehampton, Sussex, the central character is Edith, a devout spinster who is the recipient of some truly filthy hate mail. Her father is a controlling man, who allows his daughter little freedom of expression, and insists on her reporting matters to the police. Suspicion falls on Edith’s foul-mouthed Irish neighbour, Rose, who is eventually arrested and held in jail before trial, as she cannot afford bail.

A woman police officer, Woman Police Officer Gladys Moss, suspects that Rose is not the culprit but is refused permission to investigate. At that period in history in the police force, women were seen as clerks and providers of tea and little else. Gladys engages Rose’s friends in her secret investigation, and they pay Rose’s bail. As soon as she is released, the hate mail starts again, apparently proving that she is responsible. Other residents of Littlehampton also start receiving hate mail and the matter becomes a sensational scandal, attracting the attention of the press and the Westminster parliament.

Ultimately, Edith is unmasked as the poison pen writer and is sent to jail.

The language is obscene and offensive, but the acting and the pace of the action are so engaging that it doesn’t seem gratuitous.

I was astonished to learn at the end of the film that it was based on real events, which were documented as the Littlehampton libels, and that Edith was sentenced to twelve months’ hard labour, although see below:

As with all films inspired by actual events, there are discrepancies and anomalies.

According to BBC History Magazine, Edith did 12 months without hard labour after being tried twice while Rose was charged and convicted twice, first for 10 days and then 4 months of hard labour for a crime of which she was framed deliberately by Edith.