Film

Wicker

Name: Wicker
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Comedy
Released: 2026
Cast: Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu

A Fisherwoman tired of ridicule commissions a wicker husband, sparking uproar in her conservative seaside village. This is a film about refusing to fit in, played with deadpan warmth and absurdist charm. It's strange and tender at once—for anyone who's felt the weight of small-town judgment and loved the idea of making your own rules.

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Napoleon2023

Ridley Scott's epic reframes history through obsession and isolation. Like Wicker, it examines ambition outside the bounds of what's expected, with stunning production design and a lead performance that commands the screen.

But Three and a half hours, very male, very serious—the tonal opposite of what makes Wicker sing. Scott's grandeur doesn't leave much room for oddness.

The Banshees of Inisherin2022

Two men on an Irish island, pushed to the margins of their community. Like Wicker, it's blackly comic, deeply sad, and obsessed with how villages suffocate people who don't conform. Unforgettable.

But It ends in tragedy. Wicker, for all its chaos, has a gentler heart. The tone is bleaker.

Spirited Away2001

A young woman navigates a world that runs on its own logic, where the strange and grotesque become normal. Both films share a wry acceptance of the fantastical, and a protagonist who refuses to bend to pressure.

But It's anime, which isn't everyone's thing. The pacing is dreamlike rather than comedic.

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage2021

Both films are about two impossible creatures choosing each other over belonging to the world. Both find comedy and tenderness in relationships that should horrify people.

A man and a sentient parasite form an oddly domestic partnership despite being nightmares to everyone around them. It's gleefully weird, refuses to be what superhero films should be, and finds genuine affection between the incompatible. The tonal kinship is surprising but real.

But It's a Marvel film, which comes with baggage. Comic book fans might find it too strange; everyone else might find it too loud.

The Shape of Water2017

A woman and a creature. Romance blooms in the margins, defying society's rules with tenderness and magic. Guillermo del Toro made a film about choosing love over belonging, which is Wicker's core.

But Considerably more polished and romantic. It trades Wicker's sharpness for beauty, which some might find safer.

Amélie2001

A shy woman on the outside of her community engineers small revolutions. Whimsical, French, gorgeously weird. Both are about refusing loneliness by remaking the world around you.

But It's so delightful it sometimes curdles into cuteness. Wicker has more bite.

Arrival2016

A linguist meets an alien; language and understanding reshape everything. Like Wicker, it's science-adjacent fantasy that uses the premise to ask what we owe ourselves versus what others demand of us.

But Cerebral and melancholic. Wicker is messier and funnier.

Moonlight2016

A portrait of identity forming against the pressure of the world. Quiet, luminous, and about choosing yourself. The emotional architecture underneath is very close to Wicker's.

But It's a different register entirely—grave, painterly, nearly silent. No comedy at all.

The Farewell2019

A woman caught between two cultures and what's expected of her. Both films use their premises to explore how we become ourselves despite enormous pressure to be someone else.

But Family drama rather than fantastical comedy. The stakes feel too real for some viewers.

The Lighthouse2019

Both films locate something sacred and real in people the world has abandoned or mocked. Both use their bizarre premises to ask about dignity and choice.

Two men in a claustrophobic space on an island, descending into chaos and strangeness. Shot in black and white and nearly incomprehensible language, it's a masterclass in isolation-made-comedy. Wildly different in tone but spiritually aligned with Wicker's acceptance of the grotesque.

But Deliberately hard to watch: grainy, sometimes incoherent dialogue, mounting psychological deterioration. It's experimental cinema, not entertainment.

The Fall2008

Both films are built from the inside out: a person making something impossible to survive. Both are fundamentally about the power of imagination to remake the world.

A wounded man tells a child an increasingly baroque, illustrated story. Fantasy embedded in reality, tenderness beneath strangeness, and visuals that stop you cold. Like Wicker, it's in love with the strange and the handmade.

But Languid pacing, fairy-tale logic that won't click for everyone. It's a complete oddity that requires patience.