Verdict: 4.5 out of 5. Wicker is the strangest love story of the year, and also one of the most sincere. A lonely fisherwoman, mocked by her whole village, commissions a husband woven from willow — and the film treats that absurd premise with complete seriousness, bawdy humour, and a surprising amount of heart. It is funny, filthy, tender, and unlike anything else in cinemas right now.
Directed by husband-and-wife team Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, the film premiered at Sundance in January 2026 before opening in US cinemas on October 23, 2026, through Black Bear Pictures. It arrives in UK and Irish cinemas on October 30, with a wider US expansion planned around the same time. Critics have responded warmly: the film holds a score in the mid-90s percent range on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences scoring it almost identically — a rare meeting of critical and popular minds.
| Title | Wicker |
| Directors | Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson |
| Starring | Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Richard E. Grant |
| Based on | “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills |
| US release | October 23, 2026 (limited, expanding October 30) |
| Runtime | 105 minutes |
| Rating | R |
| Distributor | Black Bear Pictures |
| Rotten Tomatoes | Mid-90s percent critics, similar audience score (moving as reviews arrive) |
| Our verdict | 4.5 out of 5 |
What Is Wicker About?
Colman plays the Fisherwoman, a woman known in her seaside village only by her trade, as is everyone else. Smelly, single, and perpetually ridiculed by her neighbours, she has had enough of waiting for a man who will never come. So she does something practical: she asks the local Basket Weaver, played by Dinklage, to weave her one.
The result is the Wicker Husband, played by Skarsgård inside a fully practical woven suit built by Wētā Workshop. He is tall, handsome in a frankly ridiculous way, devoted, and good — almost unsettlingly good. The village, which could not stand the Fisherwoman alone, likes her even less once she is happy. Jealousy, gossip, and moral outrage follow, and the film’s real subject comes into focus: it was never really about the husband. It is about a community that cannot bear a woman choosing her own life.
What Works: A Premise Played Straight
The film’s greatest strength is its refusal to wink. Fischer and Wilson direct the romance as if it were entirely normal, which makes it both funnier and more moving than a film that kept nudging the audience. The jokes land because the characters believe in them, and the tenderness lands for the same reason. A scene of quiet domestic happiness between the Fisherwoman and her husband carries genuine emotional weight, precisely because the film never treats their love as a gag.
The craft is equally committed. Cinematographer Lol Crawley gives the village a storybook glow that makes its small-mindedness feel both beautiful and stifling, and Anna Meredith’s playful score keeps the tone buoyant even when the story darkens. The Wicker Husband himself is a triumph of practical effects: because Skarsgård is really inside the suit, the character moves, dances, and embraces like a person rather than a digital creation, and the audience can believe in him as a partner rather than a prop.
Colman Carries the Film
Colman is, as ever, superb. She plays the Fisherwoman with warmth, comic timing, and a flicker of insecurity that makes her triumph matter — she cannot quite believe her good luck, even as she refuses to apologise for it. Skarsgård, meanwhile, takes on the harder job: playing a character with almost no darkness in him, whose goodness is the whole point. He pulls it off with charm and surprising emotional honesty.
The supporting cast is a delight. Dinklage brings earthy mischief to the Basket Weaver, Debicki finds quiet unhappiness beneath the Tailor’s Wife’s respectability, and Richard E. Grant is gloriously hapless as the village Doctor. Every villager, named only for their trade, adds another shade to the film’s portrait of a community policing itself.
What Does Not Quite Hold Together
Wicker is not flawless. Adapted from a short story, it occasionally feels stretched: a mid-film detour slows the momentum, and some of the bawdier humour will not land for every viewer. A few critics have also found the tone uneven, veering between fairy tale, sex comedy, and social satire without always settling. These are fair criticisms, but they feel minor against what the film achieves. Even its messier stretches are carried by performances too good to resist.
Should You Watch Wicker?
Yes, if you like your romances strange and your satire warm-hearted. Wicker is an adult fairy tale — bawdy, funny, and unexpectedly moving — that uses its wildest idea to ask a simple question: why does other people’s happiness make some people so angry? It is one of the most original films of 2026, and the rare fantasy that earns its happy ending. See it on the big screen while you can, before the village gossip gets to you first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wicker based on a book?
It is adapted from Ursula Wills’s short story “The Wicker Husband,” expanded into a feature by directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson.
Is Alexander Skarsgård really inside the wicker suit?
Yes. The Wicker Husband is a practical costume built by Wētā Workshop, performed by Skarsgård, with only limited digital touches.
Is Wicker suitable for children?
No. The film is rated R for sexual content and language, and its comedy is aimed squarely at adults.
When does Wicker open in the UK?
It opens in UK and Irish cinemas on October 30, 2026, following its October 23 limited US release.