Not a Wicker Man, but a Wicker-Man: Film review

By Seth Lukas Hynes Wicker and OBEX MA15+ 4.5/5 (both) Today we're looking at two phenomenal new indie films. In the medieval romantic comedy Wicker, a constantly-belittled fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) suddenly finds herself engaged to a doting man made of wicker (Alexander Skarsgård). Wicker is an exceptionally witty film with vulnerable, captivating performances from Colman and Skarsgård, and I predict the wicker-husband's amazing prosthetics will receive a makeup Oscar nomination next year. The men of the village suppress their feelings and treat their wives as possessions, and the conniving tailor's wife (Elizabeth Debicki) treats marriage as a way for the women to control the men. The wicker-fisherwoman couple's simple love, with no bitterness or power dynamics, threatens the social order for both, and the film maintains low-key simmering tension on both fronts amid gorgeous cinematography and plenty of laughs. In the surreal sci-fi drama OBEX, the reclusive Conor (writer-director Albert Birney) is pulled into the fantasy video game world of the title. Birney plays an endearing nerd with subdued pathos in a film that feels like a hybrid of Darren Aronofsky's Pi and Terry Gilliam's Brazil. With calculated, character-building slowness, OBEX generates a cozy atmosphere tempered by eerie notes, confinement and background stress, all of which seed the fantasy pastiche landscape later in the film. OBEX is suffused with cool retro-style effects and heart-swelling charm, with the TV-headed Victor (Frank Mosley) as a sensitive guide for Conor, and this loving camp makes the disturbing Lynchian moments hit all the harder. OBEX pushes all my buttons as a lover of character studies, vintage computers, video games, electronic music and surrealism anchored by a decent plot, and I loved almost every second. OBEX is available to rent or buy on iTunes, and Wicker was the opening night film at this year's Melbourne International Film Festival. – Seth Lukas Hynes