You won’t have to wait long for directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson to answer the question at the top of most audience members’ minds when diving into Wicker. An adaptation of Ursula Mills’ “The Wicker Husband,” the directorial duo, who are also a real-life couple, know that most moviegoers wonder how on earth Olivia Colman’s Fisherwoman can go at it with a man made entirely out of Wicker. Surely, it can’t feel good, right?!? Right?!? That question will be answered as you watch the film and see exactly how much Alexander Skarsgård’s Wicker Husband loves the person he was meant to marry.
That particular scene is the film’s weirdest and wildest. Fischer and Wilson attempt to link the Fisherwoman’s love of a man she asks the village’s Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage) to fabricate with the soil and perhaps some spiritual elements that are purposefully left undefined. It’s a shame that the film never goes deep enough to examine the roots of a love that shouldn’t really exist, but is so pure that it drives the entire community completely mad.
Because of her strong smell and her views on the culture that has defined the village she lives in, most inhabitants have rejected the Fisherwoman and ostracized her in a cabin beyond the main town. Never thinking she would love anyone, she wonders if the Basket Weaver can make a husband out of her. When that happens, she can’t believe the joy the Wicker Husband brings her, even if his soul is far more tormented than she thought.
Alexander Skarsgård’s current trajectory is probably the most exciting he’s ever been. Ever since he redefined his on-screen persona in Harry Lighton’s Pillion, Skarsgård has portrayed nuanced, complex characters whose rough exteriors try to hide their more vulnerable center. Pillion might be the best performance of his career, but Wicker is a strong complement to what he did in that film. Of course, we’re not talking about a dom/sub relationship between the Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband, but his character has the same emotional complexity as Pillion’s Ray.
When Wicker focuses only on the titular husband’s plight, the film becomes a genuinely emotive, soulful meditation on the power of love. Skarsgård conveys so many detailed, perceptive expressions on his face, even caked in intricate (and gorgeously rendered) prosthetic makeup, that he makes his fantastical character feel more human than any of his supporting counterparts on screen. Colman serves as a solid counterpoint to the Wicker Husband’s vulnerabilities, especially when the two try to understand their feelings, but it may not be as strong as Skarsgård’s performance, which is clearly the main attraction of the entire movie.
Wicker boasts an impeccable supporting cast of A-listers, but most are wasted on limited appearances or portray characters with little development. However, this isn’t the case with Elizabeth Debicki’s Tailor’s Wife, whose fascination with the Wicker Husband drives her to make decisions that seem more irrational than anything the Fisherwoman asks of the Basket Weaver. Her performance is far more restrained than any of her counterparts, but Lol Crawley’s soft language allows so much introspection as we observe the inflections that guide our understanding of Debicki’s powerful turn. Every single micro-expression reveals so much about the character, far more than any line of dialogue spoken in this, dare I say, extremely chatty movie.
It’s a shame Fischer and Wilson don’t let Crawley’s images speak for themselves, because so many interesting metaphorical tableaux occur throughout Wicker, especially as the film embraces its kooky corners and frames the romance as unconventional but still full of indelible love. When the sunlight bathes the Wicker Husband’s artificial face, it’s a frame full of beauty and yearning. But the movie doesn’t get weird enough and, sadly, loses most of its steam after surprising the audience in its first half.
Sure, Wicker is thematically and conceptually strong, but most of the events feel oddly distant and cold because the directors never fully commit to a tone. Whenever the two hone in on the Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband, scenes of pure movie magic might take your breath away. Whenever the camera pulls back, the movie struggles to engage us in a world on the edge of fantasy, but never fully commits to its unwieldy vision. Some of the film’s odd humor works, but it does little for characters we barely get a chance to know, except the protagonists.
Perhaps the movie would’ve worked more if we got a sense of the community beyond the characters, but there’s enough there to at least make Wicker feel somewhat watchable. The fact that it isn’t the disaster the trailers made it out to be is a feat unto itself, but one hoped the film would be much more memorable than it actually is. Still, Skarsgård is far too good to dismiss such a romance, and the prosthetic work is so utterly astonishing it should be the frontrunner to win that specific Oscar come next year, because nothing will come close…
Wicker is now in theaters.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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