Older people, APA artists, Laika animators and Olivia Colman shine on screens this week.
The Legacy Film Festival on Aging, honoring the lives and dynamism of older people — a heavily underrepresented population — presents its 13th edition, now through Nov. 22. The entirely online event features 25 films relating to aging, most of them short films, presented in six programs. Topics range from creative passions to intergenerational bonds to ageist beauty standards to health challenges and sexuality. Films include “Been Rich All My Life,” a full-length documentary about the Silver Belles — former Harlem Renaissance chorus girls who are currently in their 80s and 90s. “Grasping the Bird’s Tail” features a tai chi class whose members include people with Parkinson’s disease. “I Remember You” features actor Bruce Davison as a man whose dementia prompts visions of his late wife. “Eddy’s World” profiles toy inventor Eddy Goldfarb, who, at 98, is still going strong. “Chum” is an Icelandic comedy about two small-town 70ish bachelors. For a full program and ticket information, visit legacyfilmfestivalonaging2026.eventive.org.
APATure, the month-long showcase for Bay Area–based Asian American and Pacific Islander artists, presents its 2026 film-arts component at 6:45 p.m. Oct. Tuesday at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. The program consists of five short films, made by Tianna Mae Andresen, Nathan Aurellano, Elenita Makani O’Malley, Mark Tran, and Kerry Wong. “Generation” is this year’s theme. APATure is presented by the Center for Asian American Media and the Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce of Northern California. Visit roxie.com for more information.
“Wicker,” currently in Bay Area theaters, is a bawdy fable about sex and small-mindedness, written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson (“Save Yourselves!”) and elevated from a likely misfire to an enjoyable romp by an amazing Olivia Colman. The setting is a medieval village where patriarchal mindsets rule and wedding traditions include the locking of a metal collar around the neck of the bride. Colman plays an unnamed eccentric, unmarried fisherwoman who is shunned by fellow villagers for smelling like fish and bucking social norms.
A quirky romance begins when, lonely for companionship, the fisherwoman commissions the town basketmaker (Peter Dinklage) to craft her a husband out of wicker. The wicker husband (Alexander Skarsgard) exceeds the fisherwoman’s expectations. The couple’s hot and heavy romance triggers gossip and jealousy among locals, including the tailor’s conniving wife (Elizabeth Debicki). Townswomen, whose own husbands are unappealing and crass, have eyes for the wicker man, who is decent, caring, and strapping. The situation shakes up the village.
Adapted from a short story by Ursula Wills-Jones, the movie can feel like a whimsical idea expanded to 105 minutes. The characters are more colorful than developed. Don’t expect emotional depth. But Colman works wonders, turning a potential caricature of a sex-crazed misfit into a three-dimensional deserving soul. Ribaldly comic, and at the same time more poignant than seems possible for project like this, she gives the silly film a satisfying, memorable heroine. Colman and Skarsgard, who is wonderful as the wicker husband, share an oddball sweetness. With such merits, “Wicker” hits more than misses and is an entertainingly carnal salute to free expression.
“Wildwood,” currently in Bay Area theaters, is an epic-scale stop-motion fantasy from Laika Studios, of “ParaNormal” and “Coraline” fame. Directed by Travis Knight (“Kubo and the Two Strings”) and based on the novel by Colin Meloy with illustrations by Carson Ellis, the film is one of the year’s most impressive animated releases.
Written by Chris Butler and set lovingly in Laika’s home base of Portland, Oregon, the story centers on a seventh grader named Prue (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), who lives with her hippie parents (Maya Erskine; Jake Johnson) and baby brother, Mac. When ferocious crows swoop down and abduct Mac, Prue, joined by nerdy schoolmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), heads into the Impassable Wilderness to save the little boy. Prue and Curtis encounter talking animals, bandits, and the villainous Alexandra (Carey Mulligan). A grief-consumed dowager governess with an army of coyotes at her command, Alexandra is bent on avenging, and undoing, a tragic loss.
As its heroes face a string of perilous challenges en route to a climactic showdown, the story proves disappointingly predictable. But the beauty, sweep, and captivating aspects of the film, which have everything from bloody battlefield action to suspenseful escapes to some exquisite magic ivy, compensate for the narrative frustrations. The movie also benefits from the filmmakers’ willingness to go to dark places and the charm of Laika’s handmaid stop-motion puppets. Noteworthy, too, are the voice performances, by Mahershala Ali (as a bandit king), Tom Waits (as an angry coyote), Richard E. Grant (as Owl Rex), and Awkwafina (as a resourceful rat), among others. “Wildwood” is a sensational big-screen experience.
“The Art of Adventure,” a new documentary by Alison Reid (“The Woman Who Loves Giraffes”), looks at the longtime friendship of wildlife artist Robert Bateman and biologist Bristol Foster, and at the efforts of the two to protect the natural world. Reid focuses on their 1957 global journey in a Land Rover dubbed the Grizzly Torque. The film screens at 6:05 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Rialto Cinemas Cerrito in El Cerrito; and 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
Dance Thrill Fest, a Halloween event curated by REYES Dance and featuring locally made short dance works exploring horror themes, presents its sixth edition at 4 p.m. Saturday at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater. Attendees are encouraged to come in costume. Treats will be distributed.