If profanity doesn’t bother you, Netflix’s “Wicked Little Letters” is a tawdry period comedy at its most delightful.

“There’s more truth than you think…” informs viewers at the outset.

Based on actual events that occurred in the 1920s in the quaint English seaside town of Littlehampton in Sussex, the story revolves around two Western Road neighbors: prim, prudish spinster Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and outspoken Irish emigre Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley).

When genteel Edith and other unwitting residents start receiving what could only be described as raunchy, anonymous ‘hate mail,’ suspicions immediately fall on foul-mouthed Rose, an impertinent single mother who lives with her guitar-playing daughter (Alisha Weir) and Black boyfriend (Malachi Kirby).

As these obscenely graphic, libelous notes flood the working-class community, uptight, dutiful Edith and her strictly religious parents (Timothy Spall, Gemma Jones) file a police complaint, even as Edith murmurs: “We worship a Messiah who suffered, so by my suffering, do I not move closer to heaven?” 

Although there’s no evidence that exuberant Rose is the culprit, the boorishly inept officers-in-charge (Hugh Skinner, Paul Chahidi) charge her with the crime, sentencing her to spend two-and-a-half months in Portsmouth jail with her daughter remanded to social services.

Only ‘Woman Police Officer Gladys Moss’ (Anjana Vasan) – as she introduces herself – tries to ignite a real investigation; predictably, her entreaties are ignored. Britain first recognized female police constables in 1915 during the First World War, but they weren’t taken seriously by their patriarchal cohorts.

But then the local ladies’ whist group arranges to pay Rose’s bail, raising additional questions and attracting the attention of the British government.

Scripted by Jonny Sweet and directed by Thea Sharrock, it’s a facile, farcical mystery, playing on misconceptions and misogyny. And note in the epilogue what actually happened to those involved in this real-life societal commentary.

FYI: Maggie Gyllenhall’s “The Lost Daughter” (2021) features Olivia Colman as Leda. “Young Leda” is played by Jessie Buckley.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Wicked Little Letters” is an absurdly scandalous 7, streaming on Netflix.

Writer/director Jake Allyn makes his directorial debut with “The Ride,” a serious crime drama that pivots around a small-town family of bull riders.

Stephenville, Texas, is known as America’s “Cowboy Capital,” because of its central location for rodeo participants. That’s where rugged John Hawkins (C. Thomas Howell, looking much older than his 57 years) is desperately trying to raise money for his 11-year-old daughter’s cancer treatments.

For three generations, the Hawkins family has excelled in the dangerous sport of bull riding. To compete, each participant mounts a bull that’s in a confined pen known as the chute. When the gate opens, the bull is let out into the arena, where it kicks, spins and attempts to dislodge the rider from its back.

Wearing chaps, boots and gloves, the rider grasps a thick rope, attempting to remain on the bucking bull for eight seconds. Scoring depends on time and on how much control & harmony with the bull that the rider demonstrates. While cinematographer Keith J. Leman captures this, it’s not explained in the narrative. 

Instead, the convoluted saga begins as John picks up his wayward elder son Peter (Jake Allyn) after a four-year prison sentence. Peter’s eager to score drugs from thuggish Tyler (Patrick Murney), promising to pay with his upcoming bull-riding winnings.

Meanwhile, stoic John and his estranged wife Monica (Annabeth Gish), who serves as local Sheriff, are desperate to get ailing Virginia (Zia Carlock) admitted to a specialized oncology center – no matter what it takes.

But Monica’s Deputy Ross Dickens (Scott Reeves) becomes suspicious when Virginia’s medical bill is mysteriously paid, and the Hawkins’ younger son, teenage Noah (co-scripter Josh Plasse), is determined to help his family.

“Bull riding is the only sport that you always lose,” Jake Allyn concludes. “The bull always bucks you off eventually. It’s just a matter of how long you stay on and how many times you get back up. The same is true in life, and that’s what this movie reflects.”

On the Granger Gauge, “The Ride” is a confusing, yet suspenseful 6 – available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple TV, YouTube and Vudu.