Olivia Colman's Wicker Husband Comes to US Cinemas Tomorrow

A lonely fisherwoman who orders a wicker husband for herself reaches American cinemas tomorrow, 23 October. Black Bear is releasing Wicker, a fantasy comedy that first played at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Deadline describes the film as an audacious comedic fable about sex, marriage and the absurdities of social convention. Olivia Colman plays The Fisherwoman, who lives on the fringes of a seaside village. Alexander Skarsgård plays the Wicker Husband, the figure she sends for.

The cast also includes Peter Dinklage as the Basket Weaver, Elizabeth Debicki as the Tailor's Wife and Richard E. Grant as the doctor. The film does not give its characters personal names. They are known by their jobs or their marital status, a choice that frames the village as a place of roles more than people.

Alex Huston and Eleanor Wilson wrote and directed the film. Deadline reports that it grew out of an unpublished short story, so the screenplay is an adaptation of a work most audiences have never read. Lol Crawley served as cinematographer, and Renato Cseh handled production design, shaping how the seaside village looks on screen.

Sundance programmed Wicker in its Premieres section for 2026, a showcase for new work that often draws film buyers. Black Bear then struck a deal for the film's US release, Deadline reported in February. Sundance is one of the main places where independent films find a distributor, and a sale there can decide whether a film reaches a wide audience or stays on the festival circuit.

The film's path from short story to festival premiere to a studio release date took a few years, and it follows a familiar route for mid-budget films that do not come with a franchise attached. The distributor sets the date, the cast and the trailer campaign, and the festival run gives the film its first audience. For this one, the first US screens open tomorrow.

Viewers who want to know what to expect can start with the premise: a woman, a village, and a husband made of wicker.