Woven for Love: Inside Wicker, the Year's Oddest Fairy Tale
Most romantic comedies begin with a meet-cute. Wicker begins with a commission. In this 2026 fable, a lonely woman who is mocked by her neighbours does not wait for love to find her. She asks a craftsman to make it for her, out of willow. The result is one of the year's strangest and most talked-about films, and it reaches UK cinemas this week.
What Is Wicker?
Wicker is a romantic fantasy comedy-drama written and directed by the husband-and-wife team of Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. It is based on a short story, "The Wicker Husband", by Ursula Wills-Jones. The film runs for about 105 minutes and carries an R rating in the United States, reflecting its bawdy humour.
The setting is a storybook seaside village in a vague, folkloric past, somewhere that could be centuries ago. Characters are known by their trades or by their relationships rather than by name, which gives the film the flavour of a fairy tale told with a wink.
The Story
The heroine is the Fisherwoman, played by Olivia Colman. She lives on the edge of the community, works with fish all day and smells like it. She is unmarried in a place where marriage defines a woman's worth, and the villagers tease her openly. Sharp-tongued and stubborn, she answers back, but the loneliness behind the jokes is plain.
After one humiliation too many, she goes to the local Basket Weaver, played by Peter Dinklage, and asks him to weave her a husband. He does. The Wicker Husband, played by Alexander Skarsgård, turns out to be attentive, devoted and eager to make his wife happy, which makes him a better partner than many of the men who were born rather than woven.
The couple's happiness does not go down well. As the villagers watch, their own marriages start to look disappointing by comparison. Jealousy and scheming follow, and the film becomes a comedy about envy and the roles people are expected to play.
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
- Marli Siu as the Tailor's Wife's sister
- Richard E. Grant as a hopelessly incompetent doctor
Skarsgård took the role of the Wicker Husband after Dev Patel, who had been attached when the project was first announced in 2023. Debicki plays the film's chief antagonist, a woman who is unhappy in her own marriage and sets out to convince the Fisherwoman that her perfect husband is not what he seems.
Behind the Camera
Fischer and Wilson first drew attention with their sci-fi comedy Save Yourselves!, which premiered at Sundance in 2020. Wicker is their second feature. The cinematography is by Lol Crawley, an Oscar winner for The Brutalist, and the score is by Anna Meredith. Filming took place in Hungary.
Topic Studios and Tango financed and produced the film alongside several other companies. Colman is among the producers, as are David Michôd and the team at South of the River Pictures. The budget is reported at around $10 million, which is modest for a period piece with a cast of this calibre.
Reception and Release
Wicker premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2026, where Black Bear picked it up. Critics have largely embraced it, though not all for the same reasons. Some call it a sharp, funny and unexpectedly haunting fable. Others find the premise more whimsical than weighty, and one early review suggested it was a folk tale in search of a larger purpose. There is wide agreement on the performances, with Colman and Skarsgård praised for giving real feeling to an absurd idea, and Dinklage and Debicki singled out for their supporting turns.
The film opened in limited release in the United States on 23 October 2026, with a wider rollout following. It arrives in UK cinemas on 30 October and in Australia on 5 November.
Why It Is Worth Watching
Part of the appeal is the contrast between the story's silliness and its serious themes. Beneath the innuendo and slapstick, Wicker asks what marriage is supposed to give people, who benefits from rigid social roles, and why one woman's contentment can feel like a threat to everyone else. Its villagers are comic figures, yet their frustrations are recognisable.
It also suits anyone tired of formula. The film borrows the shape of a classic fairy tale, with its wish, its helper, its rival and its test, then twists each element. The title may remind some viewers of the folk-horror classic The Wicker Man, but this film has no connection to it. It is a very different kind of story about a village and its secrets.
If you enjoy offbeat period comedies, strong ensemble acting and fables with a modern edge, Wicker is a good choice. Be aware that it is bawdy and not suitable for children. For adults, it is a rare film that manages to be silly, tender and thoughtful at once.