Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård’s highly anticipated new film, “Wicker,” released October 23, and book girlies: this one’s for you.
The film, based on the 2008 short story “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills, was written and directed by married duo Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. It depicts an unnamed seaside fishing town in an unspecified time period that feels vaguely medieval. The town – and all the characters who live in it – is a clear satire on marriage and the patriarchy, specifically calling out how many modern traditions stem from misogynistic practices. One interesting way the film gets this across is by refusing to give its characters names beyond their professions (in the men’s cases) and their husband/father’s professions (in the women’s cases).
Colman (“The Crown,” “Fleabag”) plays the Fisherwoman, the only woman in the town who has her own profession. She is bullied and ridiculed by the men and women in the village for being middle-aged and unmarried, which weighs on her along with her lonely lifestyle. The only person in the town she has a good relationship with is the Basket Maker, played by Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones,” “Pixels”). Spurred by witnessing a recent wedding in the village, Fisherwoman asks the talented Basket Maker to make her a husband out of wicker… which he does. After about a month, Fisherwoman enters the chapel for her wedding and meets the Wicker Husband, played by Skarsgård (“Big Little Lies,” “The Northman”).
What ensues is Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband’s journey to discover what love is, how it fits into their lives, and how it doesn’t fit in with the rigid society they live in. Despite the fact that the Wicker Husband is made of wicker rather than flesh and bone, his love with Fisherwoman is the most earnest and real out of all the marriages in the village. The other couples clearly recognize this and resent it, as all of their marriages are struggling to thrive in various ways, especially when it comes to sex (or lack of it) and rising frustrations in the wives due to their oppression. Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband do not experience these struggles, and instead have unique problems of their own as Fisherwoman learns how to trust and the Wicker Husband learns how to reassure and comfort.
Colman is wonderful in the film and proves what a treasure she is by portraying a woman audiences really want to root for. Skarsgård also demonstrates his talent by portraying a man full of love and emotion despite literally being made of wicker.
Though there are sad and negative moments, the ups and downs are made completely worth it by the ending – which I won’t spoil but I will say is happy and heartwarming. The film is simultaneously a biting satire of the ridiculous world we live in and a loving, wholesome (and a bit scandalous at times) romance between two pure-hearted beings who deserve all the happiness in the world.
Senior Emily Myers is a Copy Editor. Her email is emyers3@fandm.edu.