Olivia Colman’s decision to star in Wicker helped turn an unusual independent film into a financeable project, its directors say, as the fantasy romance prepares to open in U.S. theaters on October 23.
Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer told The Hollywood Reporter that Colman’s commitment accelerated the production. The filmmakers sought independent backing rather than taking the project to major studios, prioritizing creative control over a bigger budget.
A husband made to order
Wicker stars Colman as a fisherwoman living on the margins of a coastal village. Tired of her neighbors’ ridicule, she asks a basketmaker, played by Peter Dinklage, to create a husband from wicker. Alexander Skarsgård plays the resulting spouse, whose arrival unsettles the community.
Elizabeth Debicki also stars. Black Bear’s official film listing identifies the four leads and confirms the October 23 theatrical opening. The distributor describes the film as a comedic fable about marriage, desire and social convention.
The premise creates two connected conflicts: the fisherwoman’s search for companionship and her neighbors’ response when the relationship gives her something they did not expect. The official trailer presents the husband’s devotion as a source of both romance and disruption, with jealousy spreading through the village.
Keeping the performance beneath the prosthetics
The directors told THR that Wētā Workshop spent 18 months developing Skarsgård’s costume. The design combined 3D-printed materials with natural fibers, while facial prosthetics allowed his expressions to remain visible. Daily application was reduced to about 90 minutes.
The film was not made without visual effects. Wilson explained that digital work helped make the character appear hollow, while the physical suit remained central to what audiences see. The aim was to preserve the actor’s performance rather than let the transformation overwhelm it.
The filmmakers adapted Ursula Wills-Jones’ short story The Wicker Husband. They told THR that the comedy also examines jealousy and the habit of treating complaints about a partner as a social bond.
When Wicker reaches theaters
The film premiered at Sundance before appearing at the BFI London Film Festival. The BFI’s festival listing describes Colman’s character as an outcast who orders a wicker husband, placing the unlikely relationship at the center of its account of the comedy.
The U.S. release begins in limited theaters October 23, with an expansion scheduled for October 30, according to Deadline’s release reporting. Black Bear UK’s official trailer gives October 30 as the British cinema date.
Those dates describe different stages and markets of the theatrical rollout, not a streaming debut. Black Bear’s U.S. listing promotes the film as a cinema release, while its trailer offers the first extended introduction to the couple whose unconventional marriage drives the story.
