By Alice Preputnick; Photo Credits to Alice Preputnick
Because I am an AMC A-Lister, I have been going to the movies many, many times over these past few months. And since the beginning of August, I’ve seen numerous different trailers for the movie “Wicker”, which I finally went to see this past weekend.
“Wicker” follows a lonely fisherwoman, played by Olivia Coleman, who is ostracized by her village. When she’s had enough of their ridicule for her job and being an unmarried woman at an older age, she commissions the town’s basket weaver to make her a husband. When the village people hear about this, they are forced to reevaluate their own behaviors and society.
The movie is set around the medieval period/19th century, and the costumes were period accurate and used to reinforce the beliefs that the characters held. The fisherwoman had loose fitting clothes to highlight the idea that she was free-flowing and progressive in her beliefs and didn’t buy into all the social practices that her village did. The tailor’s wife wore tight and tailored fitting clothes to show that she believes in a strict society that rejects anyone or anything that is different or goes against the rules. The actual suit for the wicker man was extremely detailed. At one part in the movie, the wicker man gets burned by fire. Almost half of his body is charred and falling apart. The design for this was incredible; it truly looked like he was dying.
In addition to the costuming accuracy, the set design and script were also very time period accurate. “Wicker” utilized practical sets, so the town square/marketplace was physically built, as opposed to using a digital set. The village’s marketplace was elaborate and felt very real to me. All of the different townspeople were identifiable based on their booths at the marketplace, and every location felt very lived in.
My main complaint for “Wicker” was that the first 30-40 minutes were just a compilation of all of the trailers. Every time a new scene would start, and I would recognize it from a trailer, I would slightly lose interest. I don’t usually remember scenes from trailers, so when I see them during the movie, it doesn’t feel like I have already seen it. I think because these scenes were literally back-to-back, and this went on for around half of the movie, it was very noticeable and distracting.
I went into this movie wanting to view the story through an academic lens and as a commentary on women’s desires and need for mutual respect in a relationship, and I was not disappointed. “Wicker” is a nice blend of humor, heart, and humanity that most romcoms today lack.