Human drama mixes with farce as Colman and Buckley have a blast

THE STARS: Jessie Buckley, Olivia Colman, Timothy Spall, Anjana Vasan, Gemma Jones, Alisha Weir.

THE STORY: A village is shocked by a series of vile poison-pen letters from a mystery sender.

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS (15) ★★★

OLIVIA COLMAN and our own Jessie Buckley have the mother of all swear-offs in Wicked Little Letters, a foul-mouthed comedy based on a true story.

Set in a village in 1920s England, the movie revolves around the scandal that follows when one woman becomes the target of a vicious poison-pen campaign.

It’s now available to rent on several streaming platforms including Apple TV.

Buckley is Rose, the party-loving, beer-swilling Irish resident of a prime English village, whose flamboyant antics regularly get tongues wagging. She’s also a single mum to a young daughter (Ireland’s Matilda star Alisha Weir) who she adores.

Olivia Colman, by distinct contrast, is the strait-laced Edith, a woman who has been raised to conform by her conservative and overbearing parents, has never married, and still lives with them.

When Edith starts to receive foulmouthed and cruel letters anonymously to her family home, suspicion falls on the colourful Rose.

Only one person doubts Rose’s assumed guilt — a young local policewoman named Gladys (Killing Eve’s Anjana Vasan) who becomes fixated with the case.

Directed by top theatre director Thea Sharrock, Wicked Little Letters blends expletive-driven farce with a more human drama — but it doesn’t always change gears between the two smoothly.

Thankfully, the three female leads are having a blast, elevating the sometimes shaky material into an entertaining comedy drama. Buckley and Colman, in particular, share some uproarious moments together.

THE VERDICT: Not as edgy as the redband trailer might have you expect, Wicked Little Letters is nevertheless a fun movie experience.