Olivia Colman’s new film turns a wicker husband into an unlikely internet sensation

Olivia Colman stars in Wicker, a romantic comedy-drama built around a premise that has left movie fans talking: a lonely fisherwoman falls for a husband woven from wicker. The film also features Alexander Skarsgård as the unusual love interest and Peter Dinklage as the Basket Weaver who makes him. Set in a traditional coastal village inspired by the 19th century, the story follows Colman’s unnamed fisherwoman as she asks a local craftsman to create a companion for her. The resulting Wicker Husband is affectionate, supportive and attentive, but their relationship provokes jealousy and outrage among the villagers. The film’s trailer helped send the peculiar idea circulating online. Viewers have focused on Skarsgård’s full-body wicker costume, which has inspired memes, and on a bedroom scene in which the couple’s bed breaks during an intimate encounter. The scene, the article reports, was filmed at the start of production. Skarsgård described shooting it as “like a rollercoaster,” saying the cast anticipated the moment. Colman recalled that when the bed finally gave way, the cast erupted in laughter. Their recollections have added to the conversation surrounding the film’s mix of surreal romance and comedy. The premise has also prompted a more unusual line of speculation: what physical intimacy with a wicker man might entail. A Vulture article took up the hypothetical question, and the source reports that a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology consulted for the piece said colleagues had responded with both laughter and concern. One immediate practical worry was the possibility of splinters. Beneath the cheeky publicity and outlandish scenario, Wicker uses its strange romance to explore companionship and what people seek from partners. The film’s central pairing may be fictional, but its mix of oddball humour and discussion of relationships has made it a talking point well beyond its seaside setting.