Olivia Colman’s ‘Wicker’ Brings a Feminist Romantasy to Film
WHO:
The Cut - The film depicts the Fisherwoman as an orphan with no family or friends.
The Cut - The local tailor’s wife eventually leaves her husband to build a life of her own.
The Cut - Richard E. Grant, Nabhaan Rizwan, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, and Ella Bruccoleri are also listed in the film’s cast.
Moviefone - “Wicker” stars Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, and Peter Dinklage.
Moviefone - Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed “Wicker.”
Deadline - Justin Lothrop is a producer at Votiv Films.
Deadline - Ursula Wills wrote the short story “The Wicker Husband,” which is the source material for “Wicker.”
WHAT:
The Cut - The Fisherwoman’s wicker husband is more than six feet tall, skilled at manual labor, and portrayed as able to make women orgasm.
The Cut - The Fisherwoman asks the basket maker whether her husband truly loves her; he replies, “Pardon me, I did not build some fuckable furniture. If he said he loved you, it’s true.”
The Cut - At the film’s end, the basket weaver, the Fisherwoman, and her husband ride away to a new society, leaving the rest of the community behind.
The Cut - Black Bear arranged a one-night-only 4DX screening of “Wicker” after the trailer drew a strong online reaction.
The Cut - The film’s wedding ceremonies end with the groom locking his bride into a metal collar.
Slate - During a wedding slow dance, the Wicker Husband tells Fisherwoman, “You are the reason I live and breathe.”
Slate - The film’s wicker husband is a golem, and the characters are named after their jobs.
Slate - Alexander Skarsgård wore an actual wicker costume with extensive prosthetics; the filmmakers did not use motion capture.
Slate - Skarsgård’s character speaks in halting, declarative subject-predicate-object sentences and initially walks with a stiff gait accompanied by sounds of straining wood fiber.
Reddit Movies - In the film’s story, an ostracized fisherwoman in a seaside village commissions a wicker husband from a local basketmaker; the creation’s soulful spirit and remarkable qualities provoke jealousy, fascination, and upheaval in the conservative community.
Reddit Movies - The film received a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 70 score on Metacritic.
Deadline - “Wicker” was picked up by Black Bear after becoming a hit at Sundance.
Deadline - The film is described as a comic fable with themes involving relationships between men and women, happiness, love, jealousy, and longing.
Moviefone - “Wicker” is a film based on Ursula Wills’ short story “The Wicker Husband.”
Moviefone - The review describes “Wicker” as an unusual love story, “beautifully shot,” and “whimsically portrayed.”
Deadline - “The Wicker Husband” is described as an offbeat fantasy fable that explores jealousy and the transformative power of love.
WHERE:
The Cut - “Wicker” is set loosely during the medieval era.
Reddit Movies - The film’s story takes place in a seaside village.
WHEN:
Moviefone - The article says “Wicker” opens in theaters on October 23.
Deadline - Lothrop first encountered the short story online in 2021.
WHY:
Deadline - Justin Lothrop said the story was material worth championing because he considered it a distinctive intellectual property.
HOW:
The Cut - “Wicker” is based on Ursula Wills-Jones’s 2008 short story “The Wicker Husband.”
Slate - Slate described the story’s reversal of traditional medieval gender roles as causing chaos in the village and said its mix of the libidinal and folkloric deepens its exploration of marital happiness.
Deadline - Lothrop first encountered “The Wicker Husband” online and decided it was worth championing as material for adaptation.
(UPDATED October 23, 2026 19:08 UTC)
The comic fable “Wicker,” based on Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story “The Wicker Husband,” follows an ostracized fisherwoman in a seaside village who commissions a husband from a basket maker. Her wicker creation is a soulful golem, more than six feet tall and remarkably capable, whose arrival stirs jealousy and upheaval in the conservative community. The film turns medieval gender roles upside down, exploring love, happiness, longing and marital life with a mix of folklore and sexual humor. Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki and Peter Dinklage star; Skarsgård wore a wicker costume and prosthetics, with no motion capture. Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed the film, which Black Bear picked up after its success at Sundance. A trailer’s strong online reaction prompted Black Bear to arrange a one-night-only 4DX screening. The film opens in theaters on October 23.
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(UPDATED October 23, 2026 17:23 UTC)
“Wicker,” a comic fantasy fable picked up by Black Bear after a strong showing at Sundance, is now opening in theaters. The film stars Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, and Peter Dinklage, and was written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. Based on Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story “The Wicker Husband,” it follows an ostracized fisherwoman in a medieval seaside village who commissions a husband made of wicker. Her creation has a soulful spirit and remarkable qualities, stirring jealousy and upheaval in the conservative community. Skarsgård wore a wicker costume and extensive prosthetics, with no motion capture. The film’s wedding ceremonies end with the groom locking his bride into a metal collar. After the trailer drew a strong online response, Black Bear arranged a one-night-only 4DX screening. “Wicker” has a 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 70 Metacritic score.
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(UPDATED October 23, 2026 14:21 UTC)
“Wicker,” a comic fable picked up by Black Bear after becoming a hit at Sundance, tells an unusual love story set in a seaside village. An ostracized fisherwoman commissions a wicker husband from a local basketmaker, but the creation’s soulful spirit and remarkable qualities stir jealousy, fascination, and upheaval in the conservative community. The film is based on Ursula Wills’ short story “The Wicker Husband,” which producer Justin Lothrop discovered online and considered distinctive material worth championing. Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed the film, starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, and Peter Dinklage. Skarsgård wore a real wicker costume with extensive prosthetics; the filmmakers used no motion capture. His character speaks in stiff, simple sentences and initially walks with a creaking gait. The film has received a 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 70 on Metacritic.
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(UPDATED October 23, 2026 06:02 UTC)
“Wicker,” a comic fable picked up by Black Bear after becoming a hit at Sundance, stars Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki and Peter Dinklage. Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed the film, adapting Ursula Wills’ short story, “The Wicker Husband.” The story follows an ostracized fisherwoman in a seaside village who commissions a wicker husband from a local basketmaker. The creation develops a soulful spirit and remarkable qualities, stirring jealousy, fascination and upheaval in the conservative community. The fable explores relationships between men and women, as well as happiness, love, jealousy and longing. Producer Justin Lothrop of Votiv Films discovered Wills’ story online in 2021 and said he saw distinctive material worth championing for an adaptation. The film has a 94 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 70 on Metacritic, and it opens in theaters on October 23.
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(UPDATED October 22, 2026 22:13 UTC)
“Wicker,” a fantasy fable that became a hit at Sundance, has been picked up by Black Bear. The film is based on Ursula Wills’ short story, “The Wicker Husband,” an offbeat tale about jealousy and the transformative power of love. Votiv Films producer Justin Lothrop first came across the story online in 2021 and decided its distinctive premise was worth championing for adaptation. Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed the film. Its cast includes Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, and Peter Dinklage. Described as a comic fable, “Wicker” explores relationships between men and women, along with happiness, love, jealousy, and longing. A review calls it an unusual love story, beautifully shot and whimsically portrayed. The film opens in theaters on October 23.
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(UPDATED October 22, 2026 21:11 UTC)
A new film called “Wicker” adapts Ursula Wills’ short story, “The Wicker Husband,” into an unusual love story. The cast includes Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, and Peter Dinklage. Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed the film. Its source material is an offbeat fantasy fable that explores jealousy and the transformative power of love. Producer Justin Lothrop of Votiv Films first came across the story online in 2021. He said he believed it was distinctive intellectual property and material worth championing for an adaptation. A review describes “Wicker” as beautifully shot and whimsically portrayed, while emphasizing its unusual romantic story. The film opens in theaters on October 23.