‘Wicker’ Is Even Better — and Hornier — in 4DX

Last night, audiences got a one-night-only event that intensified the pleasures of the year's most surprisingly romantic film in extremely visceral ways.

Ever since 4DX technology debuted in 2009 for Seoul screenings of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” the immersive format has been associated primarily with spectacles and franchise films; if you’ve been to a 4DX auditorium, you probably went to see a Marvel movie or a “Fast and Furious” sequel. The idea seems to be that 4DX — a presentation system that “enhances” movies with physical effects like shaking seats, wind, flashing lights, snow, water, and scents — is best utilized in action films where the onscreen chaos is intensified by the chaos of being yanked around in your chair while nozzles spray air and water in your face.

For years, I avoided 4DX like the plague after an ill-advised trip to see “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” When motion sickness set in before the end of the first reel, I figured I had experienced enough 4DX to last me for the rest of my life. Then last year, while writing a piece comparing six release formats for “One Battle After Another,” I gave 4DX another shot and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece with effects that included air blasting in my ear to simulate gunshots and the seat rocking to simulate Sean Penn’s masturbation added an unexpected dimension to the viewing experience.

Since then, I’ve caught a couple more movies in 4DX, from an epic that typically uses the format (“The Odyssey”) to a contained thriller that barely uses it at all (“Verity”). Then, last night, I caught the “Citizen Kane” of 4DX movies, the one that uses the format the way it should have always been implemented — not as a form of cinematic shock treatment designed to amplify onscreen violence, but as an expression of sensual pleasure. I give you, ladies and gentlemen, “Wicker” in 4DX.

Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s offbeat love story between a fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) and a man made of wicker (Alexander Skarsgård) has been a hot topic among cinephiles since its audience-pleasing debut at Sundance earlier this year. Hilarious but also genuinely romantic and poignant, it’s a true original. It’s also, as viewers could tell even from the trailer, fearlessly sexy, with several scenes of woman-on-wicker lovemaking that end with Colman’s bed demolished.

As soon as audiences started discovering the movie, the joke began making its way around Film Twitter and Letterboxd: where was the 4DX version of “Wicker?” Distributor Black Bear heard the joke and decided to make it a reality, scheduling one-night-only 4DX screenings at around 60 U.S. screens last night. If Southern California is any indication, the screenings were a wild success; the one I attended at a local Regal was nearly sold out, as were all the engagements within a 30-mile radius of Los Angeles.

And the 4DX presentation of “Wicker” did not disappoint. While many of the effects were typical of 4DX — the seat moving in unison with different characters, water hitting your face in rainy scenes — it didn’t take long for “Wicker” to demonstrate that it would be a more inventive, more adult exploitation of the format. The first sign of the picture’s flair for 4DX innovation came when Colman peed into her chamber pot and then tossed the contents out the door — and into the audience’s face, as we were all doused with water representing Colman’s urine.

Similarly cheeky gags occurred throughout the presentation, but the moment we were all waiting for was Colman and Skarsgård’s wedding night. The scene did not disappoint; as the fisherwoman and her wicker husband threw each other around the bed in ecstasy, the 4DX chairs tossed the audience in perfectly timed thrusts, creating a communal experience unlike any I’ve ever had in a movie theater. To be blunt, it felt like 150 strangers were all simulating sex with each other, and the, for lack of a better word, release at the end was exhilarating. We all erupted with applause when the bed split apart, and our shared ecstasy had reached its climax.

It makes one wonder: Is the true future of 4DX softcore pornography? There’s nothing really special about being jerked side to side while Superman flies through Metropolis, but feeling like you’re humping Olivia Colman (or being humped by Alexander Skarsgård) really brings people together. The possibilities for expanding the format’s potential are endless. Just as movies like “Titanic” and “Terminator 2” are retrofitted with 3D for special re-releases, 4DX could bring back “9 1/2 Weeks” and “Basic Instinct” in all their steamy, thrusting glory.

The fact that this was only a one-night event made it undeniably special, though I do hope its success inspires Black Bear to add some more engagements — the pleasures of “Wicker” in 4DX should not be limited to a select few.