About the film (courtesy of Warner Bros.):
A lonely Frankenstein (Christian Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Jessie Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!
A movie that puts the “death” in “till death do us part,” The Bride! is a whirlwind of romance, thrills, and action. It follows the story of The Bride of Frankenstein (Jessie Buckley) from her untimely demise as Ida to her “reinvigoration” as The Bride alongside the cause of her creation, Frankenstein’s Monster (Christian Bale). This reimagining by Maggie Gyllenhaal takes the classic gothic horror elements and drags them into a gritty, stylized version of the 1930s that feels both nostalgic and aggressively modern.
Riddled with loneliness, Frankenstein goes to Dr. Euphronious in search of a companion, a compatriot and, more importantly, a wife. After exhuming the lifeless body of Ida, the doctor brings to life Frankenstein’s dearly beloved. Merged with the soul of Mary Shelley and fragments of her own personality, the newly created woman is left looking to Frankenstein for glimpses into what her reality was before the “accident.” In response, he is left to conjure fantastical stories of their relationship and what he had dreamed it to be, creating a tragic dynamic between her search for truth and his desperate need for a shared history.
They continue bonding in their shared experiences of being outcasts until eventually unfortunate circumstances cause them to be pursued by Det. Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his more than adequate assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz). They also face pressure from a Mafioso/Mob that Ida was digging up dirt on before she met her demise in her real life. These two pursuers cause Frankenstein and his wife to live a life on the run for a while, while they experience what it truly means to live and breathe in a world that originally rejected them both.
The main thing to note throughout The Bride! is that there are strong themes of sexual assault and exploitation. These are going to be hard for some audiences to stomach, especially after reports indicated that certain scenes were dialed back after test screenings hadn’t gotten the desired responses. These scenes set the tone for the movie in a way which seems to represent women finding themselves, putting their foot down, and standing up for their own identities and the things that they believe. The messaging here is pretty clear, including a scene in particular where The Bride shouts “Me too” in a pointed reference to the Hollywood movement. This can be jarring being that the movie is set to take place in the early 20th century, but it fits the film’s bold narrative goals.
Graphic imagery aside, the chemistry in The Bride! between the actors is clear. Frankenstein and his wife definitely appear to at times be in love, while the Detective—who at one point is a love interest—treats The Bride with the love and respect that one would come to expect from a former fling. The acting is definitely where this movie shines. Their mannerisms and the way the characters’ roles are sold fit perfectly into the world that’s been constructed and the story that’s being told. Jake Gyllenhaal also appears in his sister Maggie’s film as the famous actor and singer Ronnie Reed, who serves as a sort of muse for the original monster.
Overall, The Bride! is held together with standout performances from its cast, with Jessie Buckley having to bounce between essentially two different characters mid-scene with elegance. Bale delivers another stellar, transformative performance, all led and carried by a solid soundtrack and choreography. It culminates in a film that seems to be similar to what Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) was originally going for—a high-stakes, artistic blend of madness, music, and social commentary.
The Bride! awakens in only in theaters starting Friday, March 6th. You’ll want to check this updated version of a classic love tale out sooner than later.
