Olivia Colman Falls for Alexander Skarsgård’s Living Basket in Wicker

Black Bear Pictures opens Wicker in US theaters on October 23. The premise is gloriously odd: Olivia Colman plays a village outcast who, out of spite, orders a husband made of wicker, and Alexander Skarsgård plays the man who is woven for her.

Writer-directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson adapted Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story The Wicker Husband, and Colman produced as well as starred.

The story

In a medieval farming town where everyone knows their place, the Fisherwoman is at the bottom of the pecking order. Her sarcastic commission to the local basket weaver turns out to be no joke when he brings the wicker husband to life, and their genuinely tender romance sets the whole village on edge.

The cast

• Olivia Colman as the Fisherwoman;
• Alexander Skarsgård as the Wicker Husband;
• Peter Dinklage as the Basket Weaver;
• Elizabeth Debicki as the Tailor’s Wife;
• Nabhaan Rizwan as the Tailor;
• Richard E. Grant as the doctor;
• Marli Siu and Ben Ashenden.

Dev Patel was first announced for the title role before Skarsgård stepped in.

The filmmakers

Shot in Budapest, the film was photographed by Lol Crawley and edited by Sofi Marshall, with a score by Anna Meredith. Animal Kingdom director David Michôd is among the producers. It runs 105 minutes.

Early reviews

Wicker premiered at Sundance on January 24. Screen Daily found Colman and Skarsgård made for each other, Collider praised the surprising spark between them, and The Wrap called the fable well-intentioned but wooden. It sits at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes from 23 reviews and 70 on Metacritic.

Release

After the US opening on October 23, Wicker reaches the UK on October 30 and Australia on November 5.