Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, and Elizabeth Debicki Cozy Up at the ‘Wicker’ 2026 New York After-Party

Have you ever wanted to see Olivia Colman get hot and bothered by a basket? It may sound absurd, but that’s what drew dozens of people to the first New York screening of Wicker last night.

The film, which hits theaters next week, follows Colman, who plays an ostracized fisherwoman who pays a mysterious basket weaver, portrayed by Peter Dinklage, to make her a husband. The Frankenstein’s creature–esque creation (Alexander Skarsgård in prosthetics) ultimately looks less like a creature and more like a handsome hunk of wood and twine, complete with a high libido and a wicker-woven willy. But tensions brew in this village that could be out of a Grimms’ fairy tale, with local women (like Elizabeth Debicki) getting jealous and starting to wonder if their own husbands are lacking. (“I heard he’s strong as a tree and just as hard,” one says.)

After the screening, Colman celebrated the fisherwoman by cozying up with her cast at The Mulberry.

“I don’t think she’s lonely,” Colman told Vanity Fair of her role. “I think she’s happy. She has her own agency…. All the other women are named after their husbands’ careers. She asks for a husband just to shut them all up and to have a laugh. She doesn’t expect to go, Oh!”

But getting swept off your feet by someone who’s effectively a seven-foot tree is, of course, rarely foreseen. “There’s lust initially, and then they’ve fallen in love and it’s not expected,” she added.

Colman sat shoulder to shoulder with Skarsgård, who appeared at the party wearing a shirt that said “Lick My Worm.” The cheeky phrase that inspired the custom ’fit comes from one of Colman’s lines in the film. He and Colman giggled at the new garment when he unveiled it on the carpet alongside his father, Stellan Skarsgård.

“[It’s] from my upcoming collection,” Skarsgård joked at the after-party. “I’m gonna capitalize on this shit.”

Behind him, guests milled about with espresso martinis and glasses of wine while nestling together on velvet banquettes. Above, the abstract faces of a mural created by Swedish artist Emelie Törling gazed down upon the patrons. Guests like The Shards actor Ivy Wolk, Sunita Mani of Save Yourselves!, and Splitsville’s Kyle Marvin mingled and munched on mini grilled cheeses and tiny hot dogs.

The cast was flanked by the dynamic duo behind the film, Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, who drew upon their real relationship to navigate some of the film’s trickier moments.

“[They] were the stand-ins for the sex scenes!” Colman says.

“The [main] stand-ins for the movie weren’t interested in doing the sex scenes,” Fischer said. “We’re married and we’re like, We’ll just do it.”

Ultimately, six people—Skarsgård, Colman, Fischer, Wilson, intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien, and Oscar-winning cinematographer Lol Crawley—all experimented with positions together, straddling each other in odd ways to block the scenes.

“That’s why [the bed] broke,” Skarsgård said.

Skarsgård’s wooden armor was created from a 3D-printed prosthetic shell molded directly to his body before it was covered with actual woven willow wicker. His face was made of 13 interlocking prosthetic pieces glued to his skin, which moved with his facial expressions. Skarsgård’s job as a piece of timber is to woo a real human woman. He does shockingly well for a lover that could give you splinters.

“He pays attention to his wife and he respects his wife,” Skarsgård said. “I love how in the film there’s such a strict social hierarchy in the village…and the turmoil that causes when they see someone finding their own path in life and not abiding by the rules.”

The culture in the village places a lot of value on the nuclear family. Yet many of the marriages are unhappy, which Wilson noted was a reflection of gender dynamics today: “It feels kind of radical to even just be in a group of men and say that you love your wife,” she said.