Homemade nastiness: the poisonous comedy with Olivia Colman talks to us about the hating and sexism of 100 years ago

In the period in which it is set Mischief at home, the amazing new film directed by Thea Sharrock inspired by an incredible true story, if you wanted to insult someone you didn’t have to pick up the phone and post an offensive message to share on Instagram and X, but you had to take a letter, write it and deliver it to the person concerned . We are in the early twentieth century in Littlehampton, an English town like many others where men rule and women are considered second-class creatures until the quiet routine of the village is not upset by a series of anonymous letters full of insults addressed to Edith Swan. Edith, who has the face and voice of Olivia Colman, one of the most chameleonic actresses of her generation, is a devout, Christian woman, an absolute example of rectitude and moral impeccability, and this is why almost everyone in Litthehampton is surprised by the hatred she receives, especially because on the other part of the street lives a woman who for many does not deserve respect. It’s about Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), a lively, rebellious and non-conformist Irish immigrant who will be the first to be suspected of the crime, but will it be true?

Through a brilliant balance between lightness and drama and a script solid enough to handle the many themes put on the table, Mischief at home addresses both the dullness of a world in which men still make the decisions and both the will of women to make a difference. In this sense, the character of Gladys Moss (a great Anjana Vasan), that is the only female police officer in the county who decides to start working on the case even though her case told her not to, represents the symbol of the stubbornness and elegance of the female genius who tries to understand what leads a person to spew so much hatred towards another , but also perseverance to fight the prevailing sexism who suffers at work and who would like her to be a step below the others because of the gametes with which she was born. The beautiful thing about Mischief at home it is precisely this: being able to not only put on the scene the poison which yesterday as today perfect strangers decide to shower on someone out of envy or for the simple pleasure of doing it, but also the underground struggle to give attention and value to what the multitude considers of little importance, effectively opening a very interesting precedent on which reflect and reason.

Between investigations, jailers, processes to deal with and outrages to fill, the film is also a powerful critique of the gender dynamics of the 1920s as well as a tribute to two different types of personalities – Edith the devout and Rose the unconventional, ante-litteram heroine against the puritanical patriarchy to which her neighbors bow – who magically manage to come together and dialogue while waiting to understand who has really messed up the morality of the community. What shines in the film is both Colman in a state of grace but also a Timothy Spall not to be underestimated, perfect in lending his face to Edith’s father, so firm and so determined to exercise control over her so that subservience towards him is always observed, very worried that threats such as women’s suffrage don’t send the society of that time to ruin. Even though it is set over a hundred years ago the film is annoyingly current because many of the ideas we hear in Mischief at home – behind it are BIM Distribuzione and Lucky Red – continue to fill the social networks we frequent every day, with the hope that a trio of women like the one formed by Edith, Rose and Gladys is always around the corner to strive to make a difference .