Wicked Little Letters (2023)

I saw the preview for Wicked Little Letters (2023) sometime last year and totally laughed out loud because it was a riot of swearing in vintage costume, and there’s few things I love more than that. So I was eagerly waiting for it to hit U.S. streamers, and now it’s on Netflix. The preview kind of smashes together all the funniest parts, but the whole movie is still worth watching.

Honestly, you’ll come for the swearing, and stay for the feminist critique! Which is how I imagine Frock Flicks too. While the “wickedness” of the letters with their foul language runs the main plot points, behind it all is a tale of how patriarchy (religious, social, and familial) tries to suppress women’s independence and power. The main characters are all female, and each one is up against some type of misogynist dogma that’s trying to hold them down. They all deal with it in very different ways.

The main gist of the tale is based on a true story, and prim Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), wild Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), and police woman Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) were all real people. Many of the specifics of the case are included, but no doubt a lot is invented. The dialog is clever and funny, the pacing is pretty good, and the 1920s costumes by veteran Charlotte Walter are excellent. I’ll keep it to a mostly costume review here because I think the flick is worth watching on its own without a lot of backstory (not that it’s a real mystery, but the story is enjoyable to watch unfold).

The colors in the film is distinctive, with director Thea Sharrock noting in an interview with The Moveable Feast: “I held back hugely on red so that whenever you see the letterbox, it really pops.” Production designer Cristina Casali also talked about the colors, and how she worked with the costume designer, saying in an interview with Whistles:

“Sometimes the colour palettes work together in a project, or there’s occasions where the costumes might be contradicting to make certain messages stand out. I’ve worked with Charlotte Walter a lot, so we already have that rapport. I love the way she uses texture and she does this so well with Jessie’s character in Wicked Little Letters.”

That leaves the costumes in mostly muted tones, which fits the working-class folks. Rose, as the young Irish single mother and an outsider, has tiny pops of color, but that’s still a bit washed out.

I was pleased to see how everyone wore hats, even Rose’s daughter Nancy. I guess because they’re small brimmed cloches, it’s OK? Fine, I’ll take it!

Other details that were lovely to see were the drawn thread insertion work on Rose’s slip (and that she wore a slip).

You do see it on a lot of period undergarments, like this:

More of the similar treatment on Rose’s pale blue dress, if you look closely.

It’s those lines all over the front of the dress and at the edges. Compare with this linen extant example:

Edith is more prim and buttoned-up, though her everyday apron has bits of lace (possibly vintage?) at the neck and pockets.

She sticks to dark colors, with good reason.

Have you watched Wicked Little Letters yet?

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