Wicker premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2026, and was released by Black Bear Pictures in the United States on October 23, 2026, and is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2026. The film received positive reviews from critics.
Plot
A solitary Fisherwoman lives alone in a hut on the outskirts of a village, where the local townspeople often mock and harass her for her spinster status and the fishy stench of her wares. At the wedding of the Tailor's Wife's Sister, a ritual where unmarried women shake small baskets containing eggs concludes when the Fisherwoman is deemed the next to marry. The women of the village take this as a negative omen.
The Fisherwoman visits the Basket Weaver and commissions him to make her a husband. The Basket Weaver accepts the task and advises her to meet him at the chapel in one month's time. On the eve of the wedding, the Wicker Husband arrives in the village, asking for clothing, shoes and lodging to prepare for the next day's ceremony. The Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband are wed, and they consummate their union. Their passionate lovemaking causes the wooden bedframe to collapse, and the Wicker Husband offers to repair it. Soon, he completes many tasks to improve the Fisherwoman's modest hut, such as gardening and repairing her roof.
The Wicker Husband and the Fisherwoman's marriage becomes the talk of the village. At the Butcher's wedding, their unique and romantic dancing becomes a spectacle, and the women are moved by the Wicker Husband's romantic overtures to his wife. The men of the village become leery of the Wicker Husband, as his kind demeanor contrasts their often boorish behavior toward their own spouses. Upon a visit to the local inn, the men chastise the Wicker Husband and question the motive behind his domestic labors. He answers that his wife's happiness makes him happy.
The men remain skeptical, save for the young Bottlewasher, who resolves to repair his own home's roof to please his wife (who is also the Tailor's Wife's Sister). The gesture goes awry when the roof collapses and he suffers a fall. The town's doctor, aided by his son-in-law the Tailor and his daughters, attempts to heal the Bottlewasher, but his wounds become fatal. His young wife is bereft, and the Wicker Husband offers her a comforting embrace after the funeral. This gesture stokes the Fisherwoman's suspicions, planted by the Tailor's Wife, that her husband has been unfaithful. He implores her to trust him, as he does her.
When winter arrives, the Bottlewasher's widow visits the Basket Weaver and desperately asks him to make her a baby. Shortly after, the Tailor's Wife discovers the wicker child. Horrified, she brings her sister to the Fisherwoman's hut, convinced the child is proof of the Wicker Husband's infidelity and threatening to burn it if the Fisherwoman and her husband do not claim the child. The Wicker Husband insists the child is not his, but seeks to protect it still. The Fisherwoman throws her lantern upon the Wicker Husband, who runs burning into the woods. She is immediately wracked with guilt and grief, and becomes reclusive in her solitude once more.
In spring, the Fisherwoman discovers the wicker child in the woods and takes him into her care. Meanwhile, the Basket Weaver finds the charred but living Wicker Husband and brings him to his workshop. The Basket Weaver visits the Fisherwoman, explains his role in the child's creation, and helps aid a reconciliation between husband and wife. He then goes to the village market and announces his retirement, and one final creation: a Wicker Woman, to be given to the villager who presents him with the most generous retirement gift. The village is abuzz with this news, dreaming greedily of the Wicker Woman's value.
When the Basket Weaver returns with the Wicker Woman, veiled in the back of his wagon, the villagers shower him with luxurious gifts in hopes of winning their prize. The Tailor's Wife arrives with a sack full of coins, announcing she and her sister will leave the village to start again, leaving the Wicker Woman to assume her domestic role in the Tailor's home. However, the lecherous Butcher, who has trapped his young wife in the basement, comes through with a considerably larger sum of money and wins the prize. The Basket Weaver departs with his haul of gifts, leaving the Wicker Woman behind, not before explaining she is made of a different material than the Wicker Husband, who is made of delicate willow. Now unveiled, the Wicker Woman is revealed to be made of dangerous blackthorn, and her kiss and touch causes the Butcher to bleed out.
Her plan thwarted, the Tailor's Wife decides to stay, though the Tailor is disgusted with her attempt to leave. Meanwhile, the Basket Weaver drives his wagon full of gifts, carrying the Fisherwoman, the Wicker Husband, and the wicker child to a new life abroad.
Cast
Olivia Colman as the Fisherwoman
Alexander Skarsgård as the Wicker Husband
Peter Dinklage as the Basket Weaver
Elizabeth Debicki as the Tailor's Wife
Marli Siu as the Tailor's Wife's Sister
Nabhaan Rizwan as the Tailor
Phil Daniels as the Butcher
Richard E. Grant as the Doctor
Gustav Lindh as the Bottlewasher
Ella Bruccoleri as the Baker's Wife
Ben Ashenden as the Baker
Kiell Smith-Bynoe as the Innkeeper
Production
Development
Topic Studios and Tango Entertainment financed and produced the film with Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson as directors, from a screenplay they adapted from the short story "The Wicker Husband" by Ursula Wills. Producers include Ed Sinclair and Tom Carver from South of The River, David Michôd and Brad Zimmerman for Yoki, Inc. and Justin Lothrop and Brent Stiefel for Votiv, as well as Olivia Colman, who leads the cast.
Casting
Alongside Colman, Dev Patel was initially attached but was replaced by Alexander Skarsgård. The cast also includes Peter Dinklage and Elizabeth Debicki.
Filming
Principal photography was completed by September 2025 in Budapest.
Release
Wicker was premiered at the Eccles Theater in Park City, Utah, USA, as part of the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2026. In February 2026, Black Bear Pictures, which also handled international sales on the film, acquired North American distribution rights at the European Film Market. It closed the 59th Sitges Film Festival on 18 October 2026.
The film was released in cinemas in the United States on October 23, 2026. The film will then be released a week later in the United Kingdom on 30 October, 2026. The film was released in Aotearoa New Zealand in October 2026 as part of the British and Irish Film Festival. Roadshow Films will release the film in Australia on November 5.
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, Wicker was released alongside Klara and the Sun, Clayface, Wildwood, and Ali G: Who Iz I?, and was projected to gross $6–8 million from 1,471 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $5.7 million, finishing in fifth.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 150 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Wicker is a charming fable that strikes the right balance between naughty and nice, drawing much of its appeal from deftly deployed salty humor, seamless creature effects, and Olivia Colman's eminently lovable performance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 92% positive score, with 72% saying they would definitely recommend it.
External links
Wicker at IMDb