Wicked Little Letters

"Edith" (Olivia Colman) is the daughter of the respectable "Swan" family who live a God-fearing life under the aegis of father "Edward" (Timothy Spall) and mother "Victoria" (Gemma Jones). A letter arrives and they gather round the table in trepidation. This isn't the first such letter and it causes dad to head straight to the police station to demand that they arrest their new next door neighbour. She's quite a contrast to the "Swan" prim and proper existence. "Rose" (Jessie Buckley) is a fairly foul mouthed single parent who calls a spade a spade and after befriending "Edith" initially, seems to have earned her enmity. It's not just "Edith", though - most of this community of small-minded hypocrites take the same view and with jail looking increasingly likely, she needs help! Now that comes from the most unlikely of quarters as a few of the villagers, and disgruntled woman police officer "Moss" (Anjana Vasan) decide that this is all just too convenient, and that they are going to find out who really did write these heinous and obnoxious letters - a task worthy of "Miss Marple" herself... I found it pretty easy to guess who the culprit was, but the knowing doesn't really impact on this rather joyous romp through a society of double standards and bigotry. The language is ripe but even when at it's most objectionable, it's always quite funny to think what genuinely might have shocked a generation of bible-bashers and bridge-players. There's quite a fun sub-plot with Dame Eileen Atkins, Joanna Scanlan and Lolly Adefope to help keep the mischief rolling along nicely, the police force are well represented in the haplessness stakes by Hugh Skinner and Paul Chahidi and, oh - of course "Rose" has a black boyfriend "Bill" (Malachi Kirby) just to further antagonise her less than worldly brethren. It's a good laugh this - not a guffaw, but it raises quite a few smiles and both Buckley and Colman have quite some comedy timing.