Wicker Review: Olivia Colman Marries a Man Made of Wood, and It’s Surprisingly Sweet

A woman orders a husband from a basket weaver. It sounds like the setup for a joke, and the trailer for Wicker certainly played it that way. Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, and Peter Dinklage in a fairy tale about a man made of woven branches was enough to get people talking months before release. But the film from husband-and-wife directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson is more than a novelty. It’s a comedic fable about marriage, jealousy, and the way communities punish people who step outside the rules.

Wicker premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2026, where it received a standing ovation. Black Bear is releasing it in limited US theaters on October 23, with a nationwide expansion on October 30. It arrives in the UK on October 30 and in Australia on November 5. The screenplay by Fischer and Wilson is adapted from “The Wicker Husband,” a short story by Ursula Wills-Jones, first published in 2008.

The Story: A Village That Names Women After Their Husbands

The film takes place in a medieval coastal farming village with rigid gender roles. Nobody has a regular name. Men are called by their trade, such as the Tailor or the Butcher, and women are named after their husbands’ jobs, so they become the Tailor’s Wife or the Butcher’s Wife. It’s a small detail, but it explains the whole world. In this village, a woman is defined by whom she married.

The Fisherwoman, played by Colman, doesn’t fit. She lives on the edge of town, with no husband and no children, and the villagers mock her for it. She’s described as smelly and ridiculed, which makes her an easy target. The loudest bully is the Tailor’s Wife, played by Elizabeth Debicki, who hides her cruelty behind a polite smile. Eventually, the Fisherwoman has had enough. She commissions the local Basket Weaver, played by Dinklage, to make her a husband out of wicker.

A month later, the Wicker Husband, played by Skarsgård, walks into town. He’s kind, attentive, and devoted to his wife, and he turns out to be far better at being a husband than the men who were born that way. The couple’s happiness stirs up jealousy and resentment, and the village’s social order begins to crack. The ensemble also includes Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Richard E. Grant as the village doctor.

Why the Romance Works

The film’s greatest strength is that it takes its central love story seriously. Skarsgård plays the Wicker Husband with stillness and calm. He doesn’t understand envy or cruelty. His love for the Fisherwoman is simple and unshakable. Underneath a costume made of woven willow, built with help from Wētā artists in New Zealand, he still manages to convey a broad range of feeling. Colman, meanwhile, finds a mix of loneliness, humor, and hurt in the Fisherwoman. It’s a performance with highs and lows, and she makes the character’s growing confidence feel earned.

Their chemistry is unconventional, but it’s real. The film shows the Fisherwoman coming alive after being treated like a person for the first time, and that’s what gives the romance its weight. Viewers are likely to root for the couple long before the village starts to turn on them.

Dinklage has a smaller role, but he leaves a mark. As the Basket Weaver, he speaks in a poetic, almost theatrical way, and he seems to enjoy every minute. Debicki gives the film its villain. The Tailor’s Wife isn’t a monster in the usual sense. She’s bitter and insecure, and her scheming grows out of envy. Because the story makes you care so much about the central couple, every move she makes against them creates real tension.

A Satire With a Serious Edge

Underneath the fairy tale charm, Wicker has a lot to say. The film is funny about how low the bar can be for husbands. The village women live unremarkable lives and get little in the way of affection or pleasure, and when they see a man who actually listens, they realize what they’ve been missing. The men, in turn, feel threatened by someone who makes their shortcomings obvious. The result is a series of sharp laughs about marriage and expectations.

There’s also a darker current. The film shows how a community can turn on a person for simply being happy outside its rules. The villagers aren’t evil by nature. They’re just bitter, and bitterness can turn into cruelty. In the end, the story asks an interesting question: who is more human, the creature made of wicker or the people who torment him?

The film is also frank about sex. The Fisherwoman and her husband have a very active relationship, and the movie is rated R for sexual content and brief full nudity. Still, the scenes are played more for humor and character than for titillation. If you’re expecting a steamy erotic fantasy, the film is less raunchy than its marketing suggests.

Where It Slips

The biggest weakness is the ending. The story reaches a satisfying emotional high, then continues for another 10 to 15 minutes with an epilogue that feels out of step with the rest of the film. It leans harder into the fairy tale mood and repeats the film’s message, but it pulls attention away from the leads and slows the final stretch. The movie does return to its central couple before the credits, which helps.

Not every viewer will connect with the film’s surreal tone either. The runtime is 105 minutes, and the story depends on accepting a very odd premise without question. If you can’t buy into a world where a woven husband is just another resident, the humor and romance may not land.

The Verdict

Wicker is a funny, sweet, and surprisingly moving fable with excellent performances from Colman and Skarsgård. Its satire is sharp, its romance is warm, and its world is built with care. A long epilogue keeps it from perfection, but it’s still one of the most original romances of the year.

Rating: 4/5

Watch the Trailer

Quick Facts

• Title: Wicker
• Directors/Writers: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson
• Based on: “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills-Jones
• Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Comedy
• Runtime: 1h 45m (105 minutes)
• Rated: R (sexual content, language, brief full nudity)
• Starring: Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan, Richard E. Grant
• Cinematographer: Lol Crawley
• Editor: Sofi Marshall
• Music: Anna Meredith
• Distributor: Black Bear
• Premiere: Sundance Film Festival, January 24, 2026
• Release date: October 23, 2026 (limited US theaters), October 30 (nationwide)

Where to Watch

Wicker opens in limited US theaters on October 23, 2026, and expands nationwide on October 30, through Black Bear. It reaches the UK on October 30 and Australia on November 5.

Are you excited for “Wicker”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.