British theater director Thea Sharrock has given us the best movie of the year (so far). It helps that she has one of the best casts you could ask for.
This story was written by Jonny Sweet, and it’s anything but sweet. This true story takes place in the 1920s in a small town in Sussex. A spinster named Edith Swan (the always fabulous Olivia Colman) is receiving nasty, anonymous letters. It’s surely the brash new neighbor Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), who curses like a sailor, has a Black boyfriend and a kid from another man, and spends most of her nights drinking at the pub. Since the two neighbors had a falling out, well…it’s not like nowadays where keyboard warriors can troll people online. You had to dip a quill in ink, pen a letter, put postage on it, and harass folks that way. So old school.
I was furious when Colman won the Oscar for a movie I disliked (The Favourite) over the much more deserving Glenn Close (in a movie I loved – The Wife). Colman blew me away in “Empire of Light” a few years later, which didn’t get the attention it deserved. She got a little nuts in that film, cursing on occasion. She’s doing a lot more of it here, and her facial expressions are just perfect. As they are with the rest of the cast, which includes Timothy Spall as her religious and mean-spirited father. Buckley, whether she’s being raunchy, or has a look of surprise, is always spot-on with the look on her face. The first movie I saw her in was around the time of “The Wife” and “The Favourite” – it was called “Wild Rose.” A disappointing picture, but she’s excellent in it as a country singer trying to make it big. This film is the perfect vehicle for them all.
Even though at times it got repetitive, and it’s a bit predictable, that doesn’t mean I’d begin to spoil what actually happens to the letter writer or any of the characters involved. The movie is just so funny and gripping, and it should unfold for the viewer without spoilers of any kind.
A pleasant surprise is Anjana Vasan as a police officer who doesn’t get much respect because she’s a woman. Her scenes (and again, wonderful facial expressions) are a stand-out. Rose’s daughter is played by a young actress named Alisha Weir who is terrific, as she always grabs a guitar, wanting to play a tune against her mum’s wishes.
The rest of the class includes Hugh Skinner as the dopey constable, Gemma Jones as the long-suffering wife/mother, and Lolly Adefope as a friend that brings some comic relief.
I’m sure some will love the fact that it deals with Christianity, and how “love thy neighbor” doesn’t always work the way it should, or the inequalities of women in the workplace, and judging a book by its cover, and blah blah blah. I don’t care about any of that. I didn’t care about the dopey themes they tried to spout out in the overrated Barbie movie. I just want a great film, and that’s what this is. So if you’re going to have messages sprinkled in, it better feel organic and still be good. They shouldn’t be detracting from other elements of the storytelling.
When movies are based on true stories, I usually do a deep dive afterwards to see what things they fibbed on. With this film, I didn’t care. I just had so much fun spending time with these characters, they could’ve made up 90% of it and I’d still be happy with the results.
This was more than just the little British romp I thought it would be.
5 stars out of 5.