‘Wicker’ Ending, Explained
The 2026 monster romance Wicker, is more than just a steamy sex romp with a Wicker Husband. Starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, Wicker tells the story of a Fisherwoman who pushes back against the absurdities of sex, marriage, and social convention when she commissions a basket weaver to make her a Wicker Husband. And after an intense marketing campaign by Black Bear Pictures, I bet you're curious to know how Wicker ends.
It's important to note that just because Wicker is a romance, doesn't mean that there won't be drama in it. If anything, this movie is giving a little bit more Grimm's Fairy Tales than anything else. And like any fairy tale that isn't Disney related, someone gets punished at the end. The question is, is it the Fisherwoman and her Wicker Husband? Or do they get a happily ever after?
How Does ‘Wicker’ End?
Wicker ends with a mistake being forgiven, a village being punished, and a family running away together.
Towards the end of the movie, the Fisherwoman thinks that her Wicker Husband cheated on her with the Bottlewasher’s Wife and conceived a Wicker Baby. (When in reality, the Basket Weaver had made the Wicker Baby at the Bottlewasher’s Wife’s behest.) In anger and confusion, she throws a lamp at him and he’s set on fire. He runs away, the flames starting to consume him, and she assumes that he's dead.
In the morning, the Fisherwoman is grieving and hiding. But when she goes fishing, she finds the Wicker Baby abandoned in the forest. Days later, The Basket Weaver that made the Wicker Husband hears of the Fisherwoman’s disappearance and goes to her home. That's where he discovers that she has taken in the Wicker Baby and is grieving her husband. He tells her that Wicker Husbands can’t have Wicker Babies, so he didn’t cheat.
Then, The Basket Weaver reveals that her Wicker Husband is still alive. He found him and repaired him. The Basket Weaver brings the Fisherwoman and the baby to him. The Fisherwoman apologizes for what she had done and the couple reconciles, with the Wicker Husband moved by the fact that she took in the baby. The reunion is interrupted by The Basket Weaver saying that the mold that has infected the Wicker Husband will only get worse and that their time is finite.
Just when you don't know how this is going to end, the Wicker Husband comes up with an idea.
The Basket Weaver returns to the town and announces that he will retire. But as his parting gift, he will make a Wicker Wife, and whoever gives him the best gift will receive her. When he returns, the villagers argue and fight until The Butcher gives The Basket Weaver the best gift. It's then that The Basket Weaver collects all the gifts from the villagers onto his cart, gives The Butcher the Wicker Wife, and rides away on his horse drawn cart with all the gifts.
When The Butcher goes to reveal his bride, everyone is shocked because it's technically not a Wicker Wife. The Basket Weaver made her out of blackthorn, a shrub with bluish black fruit and thorny branches. She reaches out to kiss The Butcher and a struggle ensues with her landing on top and him screaming in pain as her thorns pierce his face and everyone watches on.
As for the Fisherwoman, the Wicker Husband, and the Wicker Baby, they're shown to be sitting together on the back of The Basket Weaver’s cart. They're making their way out of the village towards a new life together. The end.
Does ‘Wicker’ Have a Happy Ending?
Yes, Wicker does have a happy ending. By definition, romance must have a happy ending. If not, it's not considered a romance. And despite the serious topics this movie covered about sex, marriage, adultery, death, etc, at the center of it all was a romance between a Fisherwoman and her Wicker Husband.
Who knows what that future might hold for them in another village or city. But the love that the Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband shared was real and their own. And if they survived this challenge in the village without losing the love that they had for each other, they’re going to be fine.
Why Did The Basket Weaver Punish the Village in ‘Wicker’?
The Basket Weaver punished the village with the Blackthorn Wife as more than just a parting gift. He did it because the villagers spent so much time hiding from themselves and each other to the point where they poisoned the relationship between the Fisherwoman and the Wicker Husband to hide from the dissatisfaction in their own lives.
For example, the main antagonist of Wicker was The Tailor’s Wife. She was skilled and wanted to be recognized by her husband as an equal. At the same time, she painted her life as being a key example of what the women in the village should strive to be like. In contrast, the Fisherwoman was an example of what not to strive for or be like in her eyes.
When The Tailor’s Wife started seeing how happy the Fisherwoman was, how she still kept her job, how her house was tended to, how she had a partner, and how the Wicker Husband truly adored her, she became jealous. She desired those things herself but couldn't have them. So she made it seem like the Fisherwoman's way of living was wrong because she herself didn't have the courage to step up to her husband and demand more from her life and their relationship.
This spectacularly blew up in her face at the end when The Basket Weaver delivered what was thought to be the Wicker Wife. The Tailor’s Wife wanted to buy the Wicker Wife to replace her in her family’s life and leave this village behind. When The Butcher won the Wicker Wife, her resolve shattered, the truth was out, and her husband didn't want anything to do with her.
This kind of situation happened with all of the villagers after the punishment by The Basket Weaver with the Blackthorn Wife.
The villagers were so proud of the way they were living that they looked down upon others like the Fisherwoman. And when faults in the villagers' logic were presented, they responded with cruelty instead of kindness and understanding. Ultimately, The Basket Weaver revealed how the social conventions being peddled in the village were a shame with every gift given to him for the Wicker Wife.
