The romantic fantasy comedy Wicker is now in theaters, but is it worth watching? From the trailer, it looks like a horny, sex-filled romp between Olivia Colman, who plays the Fisherwoman, and Alexander Skarsgård, the Wicker Husband. And while it may begin that way, there are deeper themes of feminism, toxic masculinity and the way women are treated in society woven throughout.
At first, we meet the Fisherwoman. She’s tired of being an outcast in her Medieval village due to her stench and unmarried status, so she commissions a Wicker Husband from the Basket Weaver. The new couple become the envy of the women in the town, not for their passionate sex (of which there’s a lot), but for how caring, helpful and sweet the Wicker Husband is towards his wife.
So, is Wicker worth watching? Entertainment writers Rebekah Manibog and Rachel Choy sat down to discuss the juicy details, whether you see the Dicker (AKA the Wicker Husband’s… parts), and how terrifying the parallels are to modern life. Mild spoilers follow.
Rachel Choy: Wicker is probably one of my favorite movies this year. I actually really, really loved it.
Rebekah Manibog: Me too.
RC: I didn’t expect to like it this much. I thought it would be fun; I like Olivia Colman. I wasn’t frothing over the Wicker Husband like everybody else online, and was surprised it was such a cute and wholesome love story.
RM: I think what I also find really funny is that everyone is obviously going off the trailer, and that really amps up the horniness. But when you actually watch the movie, it’s a bigger picture of the patriarchy and also how society sees single women.
RC: And single older women.
RM: And also a wife’s place. If you notice all the characters’ names, they don’t have names. It’s their husband’s job, and then plus wife.
RC: For example, The Baker’s Wife, The Tailor’s Wife. But it’s interesting that Olivia Colman’s character is called the Fisherwoman. She has her own job. She’s actually progressive! And it’s set in a sort of Medieval era, but weirdly, there are a lot of things that relate to the modern era. The whole Tradwife movement is happening now, and it’s very similar to the values in this movie. The men run the house, the women do whatever the men want, and they stay home and look after the man. The men don’t care about satisfying their wives. They don’t care about their wife’s happiness. This feels too close to home.
The trailer… really amps up the horniness. But when you actually watch the movie, it’s a bigger picture of the patriarchy and also how society sees single women.
Rebekah Manibog
RM: There’s so much commentary now about how shit the dating pool is. As a single woman in Sydney, I cannot escape the amount of horror stories, or like how chivalry is dead and all that. And I definitely noticed even though it was set in a medieval time, there are a lot of parallels to now.
RC: In saying that, there is still some horniness.
RM: Oh, a lot of horniness. I like how they kind of got it out of the way.
RC: Yes! He gets created, and then instantly they’re having sex, breaking the bed, and every time he moves, he’s creaking. But you don’t get a close up of his dicker.
RM: You see it from far away.
RC: I’m guessing it’s not hard.
RM: It’s implied that it’s huge, because the sound they make when they look down, and it’s huge, and apparently it’s erect. I don’t know what that looks like. I’m a child of God!
RC: And he does have nipples.
RM: Yes, he does, which Alexander Skarsgård has spoken about a lot during his press tour.
RC: And he told you about the nipples specifically.
RM: He told me about the nipples in my interview with him, and he also gifted nipples. They were also talking about letting people win nipples as well. That was fun!
RC: So it’s still sexy, but then it’s also really heartwarming. And the Wicker Husband is such a caring, perfect man. He’s everything that you would want. He’s sensitive. He does things before he’s told. He fixes the roof. He does the chores.
RM: He helps his wife, and all the other women are like, “Oh, that’s actually really sexy.”
RC: Yeah, and then the men are like, “Oh shit.”
It’s still sexy, but then it’s also really heartwarming. And the Wicker Husband is such a caring, perfect man. He’s everything that you would want. He’s sensitive. He does things before he’s told. He fixes the roof. He does the chores.
Rachel CHoy
RM: What I also find nice as well is that they’re not initially attracted to his physical being. They’re attracted because he dances with her. One of the other wives wanted to dance with him, and that’s what kind of made everyone a yearnalist, basically, because it’s the way that he treated Olivia Colman, the Fisherwoman. It wasn’t just based off him being hot.
RC: And then you see their relationship grow through the mundane things, and there’s a whole lot of other stuff that develops. There’s a major spoiler we won’t go into, but there’s a really creepy thing that happens. I feel like it’ll leave you with a lot to think about. About how women are treated, both in relationships and as single women, because the ones in relationships aren’t treated well either. It pretty much just sucks to be a woman. Yeah, and when you think about toxic masculinity, what that does and how that ruins relationships. And also women that uphold the patriarchy. The Tailor’s Wife really upholds it and is threatened by anything that will disturb the current status quo.
RM: She resents it because she’s stuck in there. She’s kind of also the monarch, I would say, of the village.
RC: It’s what Olivia Rodrigo says in her song, If they do it to them, they’ll do it to you. You might be the cream of the crop of the women, or whatever, but you’re still at the bottom of the pile when it comes to men. So shouldn’t you all get together and revolt?
RM: And it’s also shown in that scene when the Tailor’s Wife sews a man up after an accident. But the male town doctor is thanked, not her. And also, it’s very on the nose, the first bride we see wears a collar.
RC: Oh my god, yes, the collar around her neck! They’re like animals.
RM: Exactly, and the fisherwoman was the only one who didn’t wear a collar at her wedding. And then look, she’s in the best relationship.
RC: I feel it’s a film that we can learn from. I think people should watch it, even if they’re just watching it for the horniness. You’ll also get something else out of it. And if you think it’s weird that people are falling in love with a wicker man, there’s more to the movie than that. I think it’s worth watching. I really loved it.
RM: I think so, especially if you are an older single lady.
RC: Or in a toxic relationship. It might make you think.
RM: Oh, and please don’t try anything with wicker.
RC: Yeah, don’t insert that. Even though wood gets bigger when it’s wet.
RM: Oh my god, does it?
RC: It expands. I’ll leave you with that.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Wicker is now in theaters.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
