Directed by Thea Sharrock,
Wicked Little Letters, which is based on a stranger than fiction story, takes place in a 1920s English seaside town that is rocked by scandal. The film follows two neighbors, conservative Edith Swan, played by Olivia Coleman, and the foul-mouthed Irish migrant, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and others in the town receive wickedly insulting letters full of profanity, Rose is accused and charged. However, as she awaits trial, as the women of the town, led by female Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), try to find the truth, they find that things may not be what they seem.
Recently, star Coleman spoke with SciFi Vision about working on the hilarious film, where the actress talked about giggling on set as well as playing both the comedic and serious parts. “I love humor that's delivered with a straight face,” Coleman told the site. “[I] love it when the character is trying to show something, but what's coming out makes it funny. I love those juxtapositions…It's more fun, I think, to try and play more than one thing at once.”
Although the film takes place in the 1920s, it feels very relevant to today with anonymous trolling on the internet, and during the paired interview, director Sharrock talked about the human need to hurt someone. “[I]t's quite interesting to reflect on how far we've come in 100 years, and how, in some ways, it feels like we haven't learned much at all,” said the director. “…We go through moments [with] actually almost needing to hurt somebody else. It’s like, there is a need. What I'm interested in is where that need comes from, what is that about in somebody that it brings that out in them?”