Interview: ‘Children of the Wicker Man’ with Justin Hardy and Chris Nunn

As Grimmfest celebrates the haunting legacy of The Wicker Man 50 years on, Children of the Wicker Man makes a powerful impression, blending filmmaking history, personal discovery, and the complex relationship between father and sons. Directed by Justin Hardy and produced by Chris Nunn, this documentary goes beyond simple admiration for the cult classic, exploring the life and work of the original film’s creator, Robin Hardy, through the eyes of his children. The film is a poignant and deeply human journey that shows the impact of The Wicker Man not only on the horror landscape but also on those closest to its creator.

Will Knowles had the opportunity during the festival to speak with director Justin Hardy and producer Chris Nunn about the making of Children of the Wicker Man, its personal resonance, and what it’s like diving into such a monumental legacy while still creating something entirely their own.

To those who don’t know what the film is, what are your connections to The Wicker Man and what is the documentary about?

Justin Hardy: I’m one of the children of Robin Hardy, the director of The Wicker Man, and I am the director of this film. My brother, who is number five child, I am number six child, joined me on this journey, and we went to find out really what our dad was all about. To what extent his creativity had helped create the phenomenon that is The Wicker Man.

Chris Nunn: That’s a good summary—I have nothing to add.

Justin Hardy: And Chris is my friend.

From the making of the documentary, are there any key lessons you learned in terms of how to make documentaries that you would want to share with people?

Chris Nunn: I think you’ve got to follow the story, which sounds clichéd, but actually, in this case, I think we started saying we’re going to make a critical reappraisal of The Wicker Man at fifty. And obviously, for those who have seen the film or are going to see our film, that’s not what we made at all. And I think that was quite a hard-won battle in the end to keep going—what is the story here? The story is fathers and sons and mothers and family. That’s the story, which I think is very different to a lot of talking heads saying, “Well, isn’t The Wicker Man fantastic?” We have that footage, we have those interviews, and we haven’t used them because that isn’t what this story is. So, if you’re making a documentary, you really won’t know what it is upfront. Maybe you think you know what the story is, but you should be prepared to change that in the process.

Justin Hardy: I think that’s right. Having soft hands is essential. At a certain point, a documentary starts to speak to you, but initially, you have to set off on the journey and make up what you think it is. What we thought it was going to be was very different from the film we ended up with.

A lot of people know The Wicker Man. How does this documentary recontextualise people’s view of the film?

Justin Hardy: I was worried that people would like the original film less because this is not a hagiography of the director; this is not a lovefest. But I realised over the years that actually nothing can kill this film—Nicolas Cage couldn’t kill this film, my father’s sequel The Wicker Tree couldn’t kill this film. The fact that Dad has been pretty roundly attacked by most of the books written about The Wicker Man has not altered the fact that people really like the film, and to them, he is still the director of their beloved film. So, I don’t think anything that I say or my brother says will alter that, but we still have our point to make.

What’s next? Can we expect more documentaries? Do you want to do more Wicker Man stuff or do you want to be free from that and do new projects?

Justin Hardy: No, we’re going off to do a fiction film, so no more documentaries for a while. But as for the Wicker Man thing, it has been a gift, really. It’s introduced us to people all around the world who like folk horror, and I want to make a film that they would enjoy. The two of us—we’ve got a script, we’ve got an idea for a film set on the Shetland Islands, which has folklore around paganism that reaches out to Norway. Something that has only a hint of The Wicker Man, but is really its own thing. But the audience, I think, will remain the same.

Chris Nunn: It’s a very exciting next project for us. We obviously do have more than half the film that is the critical reappraisal of The Wicker Man at fifty. It’s possibly a bad market for docs at the moment, so maybe we’re not going to be able to pull that one together immediately, but we do think it’ll come in time.

Justin Hardy: No question, the Wickermania film has got legs, and also has an audience. It’s not just us weeping over an incredibly strange, difficult market right now.

Children of the Wicker Man had its world premiere at Grimmfest 2024, screening as part of the festival’s retrospective programme. Directed by Justin Hardy, son of Robin Hardy, and produced by Chris Nunn, the documentary offers a deeply personal exploration of Robin Hardy’s creative legacy, the impact of The Wicker Man on popular culture, and the emotional journey of two sons seeking to understand their father. Combining newly discovered archival material with candid family reflections, Children of the Wicker Man is an honest and moving tribute to one of folk horror’s most iconic filmmakers.

Children of the Wicker Man trailer