There are times when people watch a movie trailer and simply decide that seeing the film will not be enough. They need the chair to move, the wind to blow and perhaps a mysterious scent to enter the cinema at the appropriate moment. And Wicker has just stepped into that category. I find it rather amusing that fans have managed to convince Black Bear to hold a one-night-only 4DX screening of the film on 28 October. The Hollywood Reporter. The decision followed the rather enthusiastic response to its trailer and festival screenings. Even the directors, Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, initially thought the idea was a joke. But this is as real as it gets.
For those wondering why Wicker has inspired this level of participation, well the film stars Olivia Colman as an ostracised Fisherwoman who asks a local Basketmaker, played by Peter Dinklage, to create a husband for her. And boy does he come to the party. The finished product looks remarkably like Alexander Skarsgård, only made from wicker. You have to watch it to understand why the village becomes upset.
The film is based on Ursula Wills-Jones’ short story The Wicker Husband, which has been described as a comedic fable about sex, marriage and social convention. Not to mention that green demon of jealousy plays a pivotal role. The story revolves around a Fisherwoman who unexpectedly falls in love with her handmade husband. Their perfect relationship really ruffles up a few feathers in the community.
But what grabbed the attention of the internet is Skarsgård’s wicker creation. The filmmakers worked with Weta Workshop to create a real suit instead of relying on CGI. They designed it to follow the actor’s facial movements, right down to his expressions and furrowed brow. So what audiences are seeing is not simply Alexander Skarsgård standing near a basket. He has been carefully transformed into what the internet has decided is a surprisingly attractive piece of furniture. And yes, I realise that is a strange sentence.
Things become even more interesting when IKEA joins the conversation. The company used the film’s popularity to advertise a rattan bench as being made from “husband material”. Nothing says a film has made an impact more than when a furniture company looks at the leading man and sees a marketing opportunity. And this has led to Black Bear giving fans the chance to experience Wicker in 4DX. If you have not experienced a movie in 4DX yet, it is time. Because the seats move and vibrate while the cinema uses environmental effects such as wind, water, lighting, scents and even snow. Pretty cool, hey? The format usually appears alongside action films where cars crash, superheroes fly and Tom Cruise does something that his insurance company would probably prefer not to watch. Now with Wicker being an offbeat romantic fable, one has to wonder what exactly the chairs will do?
Will they sway gently whenever the Fisherwoman looks at her husband? Will the cinema smell like a basket shop? And what happens during the more romantic scenes? Hmmm…I am not sure we need answers to all of these questions, but the people who asked for this screening may soon receive them.
According to Black Bear, fans began requesting a 4DX version after the trailer arrived. The studio agreed, explaining that the unusual format offered an opportunity to give audiences the experience they wanted. The one-night event that has been announced currently concerns selected 4DX screenings and does not confirm a South African event. Sorry, but it is what it is.
Behind all the wicker-related excitement, there is something interesting happening here.
Original films often struggle to get attention. They most certainly do not arrive with all the bells and whistles of franchise history or familiar superheroes. When studios have to convince audiences to care about characters they have never met, it becomes really difficult, especially when the film involves a woman falling in love with a handmade wicker man. Yeah, not an easy one to get somebody to watch. But Wicker has turned its weirdness into an advantage.
The image of Skarsgård covered in carefully constructed wicker gave the internet something to talk about. Fans made jokes, IKEA joined in and the conversation developed a life of its own. Instead of trying to make the film appear more ordinary, Black Bear seems to have noticed what people liked and leaned further into it. And now the audience has influenced how the film will be shown.
Watch The Trailer Here:
We normally think of studios as the ones telling viewers what they should be excited about. They release trailers, arrange interviews and repeat phrases such as “cinematic event” until they are blue in the face. But social media has the ability to reverse that relationship quicker than you can say Jack. And of course, if enough people respond to one specific detail, studios can see it almost immediately.
This in no way means that every online request deserves its own special cinema format. Of course not. I think the internet asks for many things that should remain safely inside the comments section. But in this case, the enthusiasm appears to have created a clever event around a film that may otherwise have struggled to compete with larger releases. People are not only buying a ticket to watch Wicker. They are buying a ticket to participate in the joke, sit in the moving chair and discover exactly how a cinema plans to recreate the experience of falling in love with Alexander Skarsgård made from woven branches.
That is certainly more memorable than another ordinary screening.
Whether audiences will still feel enthusiastic when the wind machines start and the chair begins moving is another matter.
But fans asked to feel Wicker. And Black Bear has decided to call their bluff.
