Wicker: a fairy tale about a wicker husband with Olivia Colman — Euronews review

The tale of the wicker husband is now in cinemas

Euronews Culture has named the film Wicker its 'film of the week'. It is an adaptation of Ursula Wills' short parable 'The Wicker Husband', directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson; according to the outlet, the film is already in cinemas. The plot: a lonely Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman), insulted and effectively ostracised by the unnamed villagers — all identified only by profession or marital status — goes to the Basketmaker in the woods (Peter Dinklage) and asks him to make her a husband. A month later he delivers the order: a Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgård), woven entirely from willow. In a village where marriage means a collar around a woman's neck, the arrival of an attentive and tender 'perfect' spouse upsets the established order: the men grow nervous about the raised bar, the women begin to question the meaning of domestic perfection, and the Tailor's Wife (Elizabeth Debicki) starts weaving intrigues to preserve the familiar routine.

What the review says

The reviewer notes that, contrary to the viral trailers, this is not a raunchy sexcapade but a 'very good-natured story' — a costumed parable about social conventions and about how happiness comes under threat from collective suppression fuelled by misogyny. The acting is highly praised: in the author's view, Colman holds together the eccentricity of the concept and 'grounds' the emotions in the tragic moment of impulsiveness, while Skarsgård plays with restraint and relies on the work of Wētā Workshop — the design of the Wicker Husband was created with practical effects and prosthetics, allowing the actor to balance between a will-less creature and a man 'with inner depth'.

Objections to the ending

The review's main criticism is the caution of the second half. In Euronews' assessment, the decision to arrive at a happy ending deprives the film of some of its 'Grimm brothers' spirit' and its reflections on the fickleness of love, even though the finale does offer a 'prickly moral parable' with a 'devilishly funny' resolution. Also listed among the flaws are underused actors (above all Richard E. Grant's cameo) and Dinklage's monologues, which 'do not sound entirely convincing'. The reviewer's verdict: Wicker is an entertaining and charming fairy tale, but 'a stranger and darker parable was entirely achievable'. This is the evaluative judgement of a single outlet: no other reviews are available, and the film's overall reception by wider criticism has not yet been confirmed by independent sources.