I’ve lived the dream of ‘Wicker’ 4DX, and it was phenomenal

What is it like to be fucked by a Wicker Husband who looks and sounds like Alexander Skarsgård? Wicker the movie gives audiences a look at this fairy tale experience by following the story of an ostracized but good-humored Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman). Wicker 4DX gives audiences as close to a simulated experience as you get without breaking decency laws. 

It started as a joke. Eager fans popped off on social media about how distributor Black Bear should make a 4DX release happen. Sure, this motion-enhanced format is reserved for action movies like The Odyssey and Godzilla Minus Zero or horror movies like Other Mommy and Resident Evil. But how might this amusement-park-ride-like experience, which includes atmospheric effects like fog, scents, and spritzes of water, enhance Wicker? Well, for one night only, some lucky moviegoers found out. 

I was there. I couldn’t resist. And what I got for the ticket price was one of the best theatrical experiences of my life. 

What’s Wicker about? 

Written and directed by married couple Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, Wicker is a fairy tale about love, sex, and marriage. Inspired by Ursula Wills’ short story “The Wicker Husband,” the film centers on a medieval village where men are named by their professions, and women after their men. So, there’s the Butcher, the Baker, and the Tailor’s Wife (Elizabeth Debicki). Then, there’s the Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman), an old maid mocked for being unmarried and smelling of her trade. 

That is, until she asks the ingenious Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband out of wicker. And boy, does he! Meeting her at the chapel on a sunny morning, the Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgård) is dapper and kind, and on their wedding night he is hard and soft in all the right ways.

As Mashable’s Shannon Connellan noted in her review, Wicker makes a gleeful mockery of the constraints of gender norms, while advocating for making a marriage that suits its partners. So, as Fisherwoman and her Wicker Husband learn to love each other, they become a fascination of the other villagers, who envy or loathe them to dramatic results.

Slight spoilers ahead for Wicker. 

Wicker 4DX is for the girlies. 

Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgard star as Fisherwoman and Wicker Husband in “Wicker.”
Credit: Black Bear

At a 10:30 p.m. showtime on a Wednesday, a female colleague and I entered a theater full of women, along with a couple of men who seemed to be on the arms of their respective girlfriends. There was a giddiness in the air as the audience saddled up in the 4DX seats, which are elevated and robust. 

I hadn’t been to a 4DX screening since 2017’s Geostorm. And full disclosure, I went hungover, which was a poor choice for 4DX experience, especially for a movie about every natural disaster hitting simultaneously. So, it was with trepidation that I stepped back into these seats. 

Before long the trailers began, and most were an odd pick for this presentation, including two decidedly unsexy Johnny Depp movies (Day Drinker and Ebenezer). The audience grew audibly restless, as jeers and annoyed groans could be heard. Then, the seats tittered. A ripple of laughter traveled across the theater as we all felt it. 

Next came two trailers fitted for 4DX. They were for upcoming action movies, Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday. In the latter especially, the bucking of the seats was so wild that I couldn’t tell you what was happening in the trailer, because I was cackling like a madwoman. 

Then came a flutter of concern. I’d not yet seen Wicker. If the 4DX was this rowdy for the movie as it was for these trailers, would I get to enjoy the movie for what it is? Or would I be distracted by this gimmick? That would not be a problem. The 4DX for Wicker was thoughtfully integrated, and, dare I say, brilliantly so. 

The Wicker sex scenes are wild in 4DX. 

Alexander Skarsgard and Olivia Colman star as Wicker Husband and Fisherwoman in “Wicker.”
Credit: Black Bear

As teased above, there are love scenes between Fisherwoman and Wicker Husband. How does the 4DX handle these scenes? The seats vibrated and bucked, yes, in rhythm with the Wicker Husband’s thrusting. It was not just a physically thrilling experience, but a joyfully communal one! 

During the Doomsday trailer, the audience collectively laughed as we kind of calibrated to the 4DX seat-shaking that is its central element. During the sex scenes, there was giggles, guffaws, and gasps. And when the scene climaxed, the audience broke out into cheers and applause. 

More sex scenes would follow. Some between this couple, some between others. When it comes to the more fumbling pairings, the seat act was intentionally more clumsy or jolting, spurring cackles (from myself and others). 

Will Wicker make you wet?

Yes. There’s a small bar with holes in it that sits before each seat and sprays a bit of water at certain moments. This happened when it rains in the movie and when a character chucks out a bucket of urine. 

Wait, is Wicker 4DX gross?

Peter Dinklage is the Basket Weaver.
Credit: Black Bear

No. Yes, the urine gag was a bit gag-worthy. But it’s just a bit of cool water, not a stream. And while 4DX has scents, none of them were noticeably foul. There was no odor of urine. And as much as the villagers comment on the fishy smell of the heroine, that is not a scent 4DX chose to share. 

How else does Wicker use 4DX?

What you do smell are things like a swampy forest or a burning fire. These elements are subtle but impactful. As Fisherwoman walks through the forest, the scent of wet grass and a gentle breeze hit you, enhancing the feeling of walking alongside her. 

Likewise, a foggy day is enhanced by a fog machine under the screen. And in a winter scene, a bit of “snow” fell from the theater’s ceiling, glittery in the light of the projector. And it was beautiful. 

Otherwise, there’s seat jostles for all kinds of action, like a carriage thunking along a dirt road, or a bully getting decked by a wicker basket. 

Wicker 4DX was a wonderful time at the movies. 

Alexander Skarsgard and Olivia Colman star as Wicker Husband and Fisherwoman in “Wicker.”
Credit: Black Bear

First and foremost, this is because Fischer and Wilson have made a moving, funny, and bawdy film that doesn’t shy away from social commentary or sex appeal. It attracted a female audience that hungers for romance, and not just sex scenes (though yes, also sex scenes). 

Walking into that theater, it was exciting to see a theater full of women. It was thrilling to hear our laughter rise together. It was cathartic, too. This is a movie about a misfit, judged for her love life (or lack thereof), and how she builds her own brand of happiness, haters be damned. It’s a story many of us can relate to. And in joining Fisherwoman on a more immersive level, we were encouraged to react louder than we might otherwise. And there’s magic in hearing others in the theater echo your emotions. Even in the dark among strangers, you can feel you are not alone. 

As a film critic, I’ve seen hundreds of movies in theaters, with all kinds of audiences. Recently, I had the pleasure of experiencing You Can See Everything at the New York Film Festival premiere, where the audience roared with laughter, gasped in shock, and shouted back at the screen as if Nathan, Liz, and Billy could hear us. I get wistful about revival screenings, like when I saw Lawrence of Arabia on 70mm, and the film burned before our eyes! The night would have been ruined, were it not for an editor in the audience who rose to the occasion. And now, Wicker 4DX will nest among these treasured memories.

Wicker 4DX became a wondrous celebration of female desire, enhanced by shaking seats, but made memorable by the community of women who came out together to relish in romance.