The Bride!
review by Bobby Blakey
Throughout the years there have been numerous takes on the story of Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein story. The same can’t be said for the sequel to the original film Bride of Frankenstein from 1935 until now. Maggie Gyllenhaal returns to the directors’ chair once again as well as writing this remake/reimagining of the film this time titled simply The Bride!. The film reteams Gyllenhaal with her The Lost Daughter star Jessie Buckley as the bride along with Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz. Could this new vision of the horror classic come alive, or should it have never been reanimated?
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The Bride! follows a lonely Frankenstein who travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride 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!
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The first trailer instantly intrigued me. My love for the classic Universal Monsters films immediately had me interested to see what Gyllenhaal was trying to put together. The trailer was clear in its idea but tells you nothing about what you will experience when you sit down to watch it. This is the kind of film that will not work for everyone and makes total sense that some will love it like myself, and others just don’t connect or get it at all. This is part of the genius for me because it unpacks a lot but is also not without its flaws.
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From the opening moment you realize this is going to be something completely different than you have ever seen from this story. I was initially concerned about the direction it looked to be going, but it added a brilliant idea to telling the story as well
as a chance to enhance the bride herself in multiple ways. The tone of the film is a mash-up of things such as Bonnie and Clyde, a film noir, obviously the Bride of Frankenstein and even a hint of Young Frankenstein and it all works to perfection. All this works to an extent thanks mostly to the performances of both Buckley and Bale, who are outstanding in this film.
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Bale’s version of Frankenstein’s monster is completely different than what we are used to that serves as a new take, but also a sequel to the original story. He brings a sense of innocence and loneliness that blends with his appearance that makes the audience feel every moment he struggles with both good and bad. He is so great here making it his own and bringing so many layers to this role all while keeping the essence of the iconic creature alive. While he is throughout the entire film and often feels like his story, this film is fully in the hands of the bride herself.
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Buckley’s performance is insanely good. She steals and chews every scene she is in with so many different elements to play with. There is almost a multiple personality element from the before her death to her reanimating as she deals with all the insanity that leads to it and comes after. She whips in an out of confusion and scared to pure psychotic in the best way possible. Her manic behavior is all over the place but fused to her persona like a brilliantly choreographed dance both literally and figuratively. The rest of the cast are great as well, even Penelope Cruz, who I am not a big fan of in general.
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There is a creative, interesting choice weaving old Hollywood into the meat of the story. I had heard some possible song and dance numbers being included here which had me concerned about the silly factor throwing the tone of the film off. To my surprise the way it works, and its bigger purpose works great. This is where they work Jake Gyllenhaal into the story and he is fantastic in smaller, but important role to the bigger journey of Frankenstein aka Frank himself.
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The film does fly all over the place at times and can easily get lost in its own chaos, but does a great job finding its way back. The strangeness, chaos and over the top imagery and subject matter will likely not work for everyone. There is a strong element of the struggles of the equality and treatment of women complete with references to the Me-Too movement that some might get put off to, but its not just an important topic to deal with but makes total sense to the way women are treated in the 30s. Every woman in the film is either mistreated or dismissed in various ways but still showcases their empowerment in a unique way through the horrors, forbidden love and violence of this story.
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It will be interesting to see how this film does or does not connect with audiences, but I loved it. It checked all the boxes and plenty more I had no idea to expect here. It’s dark and beautiful visually, weird and creative, powerful and important all while being entertaining and crazy fun. This will for sure be on my top films of 2026, but as mentioned before it will not be surprising that a lot won’t connect with it the same way.
Decide for yourself and check out The Bride! as she is reanimated in theaters now from Warner Bros.