Wicker

Are you in the mood for a most unusual love story? A recent one, perhaps? Try Wicker, in which film-making couple Eleanor Wilson & Alex Huston Fischer visualize Ursula Wills’ short story The Wicker Husband into cinematic form.

Once upon a time, there was a village where men were mostly defined by their job, and the women by their men. There, a Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) lives alone, much to her neighbors’ disgust. They don’t take kindly to her being single, nor her fishy wares. One day, she commissions the local Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage) to weave her a husband. A month later, she finds herself with a brand new, fully autonomous, Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgard).

This Wicker Man is so devoted to his wife that he inadvertently puts all the other husbands to shame. That’s easy considering that his marriage is the only happy one in town. The Tailor’s Wife (Elizabeth Debicki) hates the Fisherwoman’s newfound happiness so much that she schemes to destroy it. Her sister (Marli Siu) ends up being her unwilling accomplice in said scheme. Will this marriage last?

This “fable” doesn’t concern itself with how the magic works. The Basket Weaver just works, and his creations just live. It’s just an accepted part of life for the village, just like how brides are adorned with metallic dog-collars on their wedding (yikes). In fact, it gets plenty of mileage mocking how regressive this village is. It makes it all the better when the Basket Weaver gives them a nasty surprise at the end.

And yet, it’s a love story just as endearing as The Shape of Water. Colman’s Fisherwoman is an insecure loner who’d like to be happy as everyone else. She’s so insecure that she finds it easier to believe the bad than the good, something she admits. And yet, Skarsgard’s Wicker Husband is so incapable of negativity that nothing, not even being burned alive, changes that. They were literally made for each other. The high and low points of their marriage will keep you invested during its 105-minutes. Believe me, there’s plenty of each.

Meanwhile, we have the Tailor’s Wife, who is so entertainingly malicious, and yet surprisingly pitiable. Her sister, meanwhile, is thoroughly sympathetic throughout the story. And then, there is the Basket Weaver, who’s also the film’s narrator. His droll slyness is invaluable, whether on-scren or in voiceover. His nasty surprise is his best moment. Who else do we have in this village?

There’s The Tailor’s Wife’s Father (Richard E. Grant), the town quack, who’s rather amusing. His son-in-law, the Bottlewasher (Gustav Lindh), is a good man who tries to shape up. The Tailor (Nabhaan Rizwan) is indifferent to his wife’s feelings, but he’s a saint compared to the Butcher (Phil Daniels). The Baker (Ben Ashenden) has an unusual plan to save his sterile marriage (Ella Bruccoleri is his wife), which only confuses the Wicker Husband and himself. Finally, there’s the Innkeeper & his wife (Kiell Smith-Bynoe & Emily Lloyd-Saini), who are just fine.

Besides Skarsgard’s performance, the Wicker Husband is also a technical triumph. Between the sound design and Oscar-worthy makeup work, this Wicker Man looks and feels real. The only visual effects on him were digital lighting, but good luck finding the seams. The production and costume designs make this a perfectly gritty fairy tale world. If that’s not to your liking, try Lol Crawley’s cinematography for its splendid, season-spanning scenery. And finally, there’s Anna Meredith’s haunting, yet enchanting score, to set the moods.

What makes Wicker an especially appealing fable is its moral perseverance. It's all about two people who try to stay good in such a cynical world, and whether it's worth doing so. In that sense, Wicker shares some excellent thematic company with Superman & Paddington. Those might be odd comparisons, but Wicker is a delightfully odd film. What else can I say but check it out? I’ve said enough.