Wicker’s One-Night 4DX Screening Turns Its Unusual Romance Into a Theatrical Event

Wicker already has an unusual premise; a one-night 4DX screening gives audiences another reason to wonder how its romance will play in a theater built to move. The upcoming film, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, will screen in the format on Oct. 28, five days after its theatrical opening.

Black Bear says the event follows Wicker trailer viewers asking for a 4DX version. The screening is listed as a one-night event. The format’s own TikTok account had raised the possibility in August, before the studio confirmed the showing. The conversation grew from a playful question into a real booking, though the announcement doesn’t spell out which effects will accompany the film.

That uncertainty is part of the appeal. 4DX combines motion seats with environmental effects that can include vibration, wind, water, scents and flashes of light. In an action film, the connection between what happens onscreen and what the room does is easy to imagine. A story centered on an unconventional romance leaves more room for speculation—and puts the creative choices behind the screening in focus.

A strange romance, with the theater in the mix

Directed by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, Wicker follows an ostracized fisherwoman, played by Colman, who asks the local Basketmaker, played by Peter Dinklage, to construct a husband from wicker. Skarsgård plays the resulting creation. His relationship with the woman unsettles the village and provokes jealousy.

It’s a premise that can support both comedy and odd, atmospheric storytelling. 4DX could amplify a scene’s physical energy, but the effect depends on timing: movement and sensory cues need to complement the film rather than compete with its quieter moments. The directors say they found that the format added to their experience of the movie. Wilson said, “The comedy is so much more hilarious while you’re being rocked out of your chair,” and described the environmental shifts as a way to situate viewers in the film’s strange world. Fischer’s reaction was shorter: “We thought this was a joke. But now it’s real. And it’s spectacular.”

Those comments offer a hint about the filmmakers’ intentions, not a guide to the exact effects audiences will encounter. The screening details leave that open. For viewers deciding whether the premium-format version is worth seeking out, the practical question is whether motion and other cues deepen the film’s peculiar tone—or become a distraction from it.

4DX as part of the moviegoing experience

The format has increasingly become a reason to see a film in its own right, rather than simply another way to watch a title. Twisters offered a clear example in 2024: its 4DX showings proved popular enough that Regal brought the film back for another week alongside the original Twister. Regal’s head of film said most of the sequel’s opening-week 4DX showtimes had sold out quickly.

Other titles with notable 4DX showings have included Final Destination Bloodlines, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. Those examples span different kinds of spectacle, but they share a useful point for theater operators and moviegoers: a format-specific screening can create an experience people talk about beyond the plot itself. Reactions to The Odyssey in 4DX show how strongly the physical experience can shape audience response.

That doesn’t mean every film benefits equally. Action, storms and horror set up obvious opportunities for synchronized movement and effects. With Wicker, the challenge is more tonal. A carefully chosen rumble or shift in airflow could make the setting feel tangible; an effect that lands at the wrong moment could pull attention away from a comic beat or an intimate scene. The screening may be as much an experiment in matching a sensory format to a specific kind of story as it is a novelty event.

What the screening will test

The studio has tied the event to audience requests, while the directors have endorsed the experience they saw. What remains unknown is the screening’s effect-by-effect design, and whether the one-night date will be enough for demand. The listing points to a limited opportunity rather than a broad 4DX run, so interested viewers will need to check availability at their local theater.

Wicker opens in theaters on Oct. 23, with the 4DX event following on Oct. 28. For a movie about a woman who commissions a handmade husband, the format adds a literal physical dimension to the oddness. The result should reveal whether 4DX can make a quieter, stranger romance feel more immersive—or whether its greatest contribution is giving audiences something to speculate about before the lights go down.