“Wicked Little Letters” is wicked fun.

“Wicked Little Letters,” which is based on a true story, boasts wonderful performances, none more so than that of Olivia Colman, an Oscar actress winner for the movie, “The Favorite” (2018).

Any film or TV show with Olivia Colman in it is usually worth seeing.

And that’s true for “Wicked Little Letters.”

“Wicked Little Letters” takes place during the 1920s in the English seaside town of Littlehampton.

Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) is a lonely woman who has received dozens of insulting obscenity-laced letters.

The letters are one sheet of paper the size of note cards with expletive-filled screeds scrawled on them. These are no Hallmark greeting cards. Hellmark greeting cards is more like it.

Edith’s father, Edward (Timothy Spall), with whom she lives along with her mother, Victoria (Gemna Jones), suspects that next-door neighbor, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), with whom Edith had a falling out, is the poison-pen author of the letters.

Rose, who swears like a sailor, is hauled off to jail. Her boyfriend, Bill (Malachi Kirby), looks after her daughter, Nancy Gooding (Alisha Weir).

Newspapers take up the cudgel, portraying Edith as sympathetic victim and Rose as vindictive villain.

Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), a Littlehampton police investigator, isn’t so certain that Rose is the perpetrator. She organizes her own undercover sleuths.

The letters don’t stop. Soon, women, men and officials all over Littlehampton are receiving the profane one-sentence cards.

Talk about Troll Farms. The woman was a one-person Troll Farm. And it gives a whole new definition to the term, cursive handwriting.

Things end up in court, where the film mines more opportunities for drama and humor.

The cast includes splendid supporting performances: Hugh Skinner (Constable Papperwick), Paul Chahidi (Chief Constable Spedding), Lolly Adefope (Kate), Eileen Atkins (Mabel) and Joanna Scanlan (Ann).

At the center of the comedy drama is Olivia Colman (“Wonka,” 2023; TV’s “The Crown,” 2019-2023) as Edith Swan, a delight of bug-eyed improbity and unctuous self-righteousness. Colman’s command of facial expressions is magnificent.

Jessie Buckley (TV’s “Fargo,” 2020; TV’s “Chernobyl,” 2019) is searing as the ironically-named Rose Gooding, an iconoclastic young woman who flashes daggers with her eyes and spits knives of expletives with her mouth. This is a breakout performance for Buckley.

Timothy Spall (“Mr. Turner,” 2014; “Harry Potter” films, 2004-2011) as Edward Swan is a nasty old bloke with bulldog bark and toad-like face. At any moment, he looks like his head may explode.

Anjana Vasan is a revelation as Gladys Moss, the determined police investigator who won’t give up her lead.

The scenes with Colman and Buckley and Colman and Spall are over-the-top nuttiness.

Director Thea Sharrock (director, “The One and Only Ivan,” 2020; “Me Before You,” 2016; “ “The Hollow Crown,” 2012) briskly directs the madcap scenes, using the obscene letters almost as chapter titles, albeit startling chapter titles.

Yes, those letters. They are indeed wicked. The language will burn your ears. The insults are in the tradition of Shakespeare stage play insults, but R-rated or even X-rated.

Screenwriter Jonny Sweet (screenwriter, TV’s “Together,” 2015) creates dialogue and scenes that tumble forth.

The cinematography by Director of Photography Ben Davis (“The Banshees of Inisherin,” 2022; “Cry Macho,” 2021; “Captain Marvel,” 2019; “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” 2017; “Doctor Strange,” 2016; “Guardians of the Galaxy,” 2014; “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” 2011) is superb, balancing town scenes, dialogue scenes and courtroom scenes wonderfully.

The score by Isobel Waller-Bridge (“Munich: The Edge of War,” 2021; “Emma,” 2020) adds impressively to the film’s tension and excitement.

The hilarious little film, “Wicked Little Letters,” should delight fans of “Masterpiece Theatre” and British comedy.

“Wicked Little Letters,”

MPAA R (Restricted Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.) for language throughout and sexual material; Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime; Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

The letters read in ”Wicked Little Letters” are said to be based on those of Edith Swan.

Emily Cockayne, associate professor in early modern history, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, who wrote about the real Littlehampton in “Cheek by Jowl: A History of Neighbours” (2012) and “Penning Poison: A History of Anonymous Letters” (2023), was a consultant on the film.

Filming locations included Pinewood Studios and Sussex, England, in September and October 2022.

At The Movies:

“Wicked Little Letters” was seen in the standard format at AMC Center Valley 16.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Weekend Box Office,

April 19-21: “Civil War” continued at No. 1 with $11.1 million in 3,929 theaters, $44.8 million, two weeks, fending off “Abigail,” opening at No. 2 with $10.2 million in 3,384 theaters.

3. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” dropped one place with $9.5 million in 3,685 theaters, $171.7 million, four weeks. 4. “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” opening, $8.9 million in 2,845 theaters. 5. “Spy x Family Code: White,” opening, $4.8 million in 2,009 theaters. 6. “Kung Fu Panda 4” dropped two places, $4.6 million in 2,955 theaters, $180 million, seven weeks. 7. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” dropped four places, $4.4 million in 3,109 theaters, $102.9 million, five weeks. 8. “Dune: Part Two” dropped three places, $2.9 million in 2,014 theaters, $276.6 million, eight weeks. 9. “Monkey Man” dropped three places, $2.2 million in 2,641 theaters, $21.7 million, three weeks. 10. “The First Omen” dropped three places, $1.7 million in 2,430 theaters, $17.8 million, three weeks. 16. “Wicked Little Letters” dropped two places, $392,053 in 431 theaters, $3.5 million, four weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of April 21 is subject to change.

Unreel,

April 26:

“Challengers,”

R: Luca Guadagnino directs Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor in the Drama, Romance, Sport film. The term 40 love doesn’t only apply to scoring in tennis.

“Breathe,”

PG-13: Stefon Bristol directs Jennifer Hudson, Milla Jovovich, Sam Worthington and Common in the Action, Thriller. A mother and daughter try to survive in an oxygen-deprived world.

“Boy Kills World,”

R: Moritz Mohr directs Bill Skarsgard, Famke Janssen and Jessica Rothe in the Action, Crime Thriller. A boy, who is deaf, is trained by a mentor.

“Unsung Hero,”

PG: Robert L. Ramsey and Joel Smallbone direct Daisy Betts, Kirrilee Berger, Lucas Black and himself in the Family Drama. A mother’s faith holds her family of nine together. It’s based on the true story about inspirational music and five-time Grammy Award-winning performers For King & Country and Rebecca St. James.

“Humane,”

R: Caitloin Cronenberg directs Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire and Peter Gallagher in the Horror Thriller. A family confronts environmental disaster.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes