THE BRIDE! (2026)

Oscar-nominated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal follows up her Oscar-nominated directorial debut (The Lost Daughter) from a few years ago with this VERY loose reimagining/adaptation of a portion of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  This portion of course focuses on the desire of Frankeinstein's monster (played by Oscar-winner Christian Bale) create a companion which he gets helps doing from another mad scientist Dr. Euphronius (Oscar-nominated Annette Bening) in 1930's Chicago.  The undead woman brought to life is Ida (Oscar-nominated Jessie Buckley) and she relishes her newfound freedom.  Together they embark on a Bonnie & Clyde-like adventure, raising hell wherever they go - hot on their trail are two detectives played by Emmy-nominee Peter Sarsgaard and Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz.  And chaos ensues.....Here Comes the Motherf&%king Bride!!!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

THE BRIDE! - 2026

Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal

Starring Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Bening, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgarrd, John Magaro, Matthew Maher, Jeannie Berlin, Zlatko Buric, Louis Cancelmi, Julian Hough, and Jake Gyllenhaal

Genre: Romantic Horror Road Movie (Audio clip)

Despite some excessive elements including at least one two unnecessary subplots, I enjoyed the hell out of this. :) It's a garish, goofy, and giddy mixture of genres....I THINK I can get what director Maggie Gyllenhaal was going for with this unhinged otherworldly "love story" as a follow-up to her excellent directorial debut from a few years ago, The Lost Daughter. That film also featured Oscar-nominated (and likely soon to be winner) Jessie Buckley delivering a pretty fearless performance as woman fighting for her independence in some brazenly ugly ways. Of course, Olivia Coleman played the present day version of her character in that film and was the actual star (both Coleman and deservedly received Oscar nods) whereas THIS time around, Buckley takes center stage as the titular Bride.

To describe her performance as the bride of Frankenstein as "theatrical" is kind of an understatement - she is saying SO much at points in such rapid fashion, I honestly couldn't make out entire lines of dialogue. 😆 Her character is always making wild gestures or dancing or shouting - this is a recently revived dead woman who's also channeling the storytelling impulses of her original author Mary Shelley (also played by Jessie Buckley as part of a sorta narrative device....don't ask!) and she never less than compelling as a result.  It also helps that she has an equally fearless performer to play against.  

Yes as Frankenstein's monster himself (who has taken on the name of Frankenstein, why not?), Christian Bale is doing what he always does best....physically transforming himself (with the help of some very effective and grisly make-up) in such an extreme manner that he has crafted a bizarre performance to match his appearance. His version of Frank is a very awkward and lonely monster who also LOVES movies - he feels the most alive when he's either watching or actually trying to recreate what he's seen on screen. 😆 On paper, this is a character who also shouldn't work but Bale brings such a sense of playfulness and joy to it that I was completely on board. 

This movie is fun in a manner which Del Toro's Frankenstein couldn't even approach and actually subversive in a manner which the recent OTHER Oscar-nominated (and highly overrated) revived person fantasy Poor Things only pretended to be. Sorry the comparisons are just unavoidable as Buckley's Penny/Ida/Bride (hard to nail down her character's name which is intentional on the screenplay's part) is quite similar in many ways to Emma Stone's recent Oscar-winning turn as Bella Baxter....BOTH are recently revived women in heightened period settings, emerging in seemingly unfamiliar bodies experiencing new awakenings and the sudden urge to become more independent. 

But whereas Poor Things ended up playing out more like a teenage boy's horny wankfest fantasy of a young woman's sexual awakening - not taking away from Stone's performance which is pretty adeptly channeling her inner Jim Carrey - Gyllenhaal's loosely-adapted interpretation of Mary Shelley feels much more organic and raw, even though it DOES get ridiculous at points. 😏 There are musical numbers, bruising face-offs, zippy montages - the movie simply never slows down - Gyllenhaal and DP Lawrence Sher (Joker, Garden State) are clearly relishing the opportunity to recreate the Roaring Twenties and all of it admittedly LOOKS great! 

But no not everything thrown at the screen completely lands - there's a running subplot involving a brutal gangster out to silence women who can incriminate him which just takes up too much screentime and feels perfunctory at points. There's ANOTHER running subplot which kind of reminded me of Joker (not the first person to point this out, Jeremy Jahns did it first in his review) and besides providing one interesting visual flourish, it kind of goes nowhere.  It's all just a BIT too much resulting in a 125 minute yarn which could have likely been about 15 to 20 minutes shorter....honestly the film never really dragged for me but it just REALLY cooks best when we're just following these two doomed lovebirds on their journey.

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):

Outside of Jeremy Jahn’s mention in his review, it actually wasn’t particularly difficult that this film shares a similar vibe with previous episode Joker….and that’s because it also has the same cinematographer AND composer, Oscar-winner Hildur Gudnatottir.  Now her score for this film isn’t QUITE as grim as her excellent music for Joker but that’s by design and it still works – once again full-on orchestral with tons of strings, it’s both lush and romantic. (Audio clip) 

However the signature piece of music likely comes to us from ANOTHER Nordic musical talent, Gothenberg, Sweden’s OWN Karin Dreijer who goes under the moniker of Fever Ray.  She’s the singer, songwriter, and producer of music which can possibly be described as electropop…..she actually performs this song diegetically on-stage in a fun early sequence in Chicago as our two star-crossed protagonists go out together for the first time.  Bride cuts loose on the dance floor while Frank kind of sits back and watches….the song was created for the film, I would personally describe it as a playful blend of Siouxsie & the Banshees and Nine Inch Nails so no it’s NOT period-appropriate for a scene taking place the 1930’s but no matter – the song is the raucous “The Lake.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

We also spend a decent amount of time following two detectives played by Peter Saarsgard and Penelope Cruz (both are quite good but kind of out of a different movie). They are on the trail of this "Monster" and his "Bride" who are apparently on some kind of Bonnie & Clyde-like crime spree through several different cities and the countryside....and I'm not particularly sure that their characters pay off in any satisfying way. 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Undoubtedly this has to be the centerpiece sequence of the film as it is just SUCH a joyous mix of sound, editing, choreography, and performance….any one who has seen this and STILL dismissive of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s chops as a director is just NOT giving her a fair shake here.  I believe it occurs roughly about halfway through the film and in New York City as both Bride and Frank are on the second leg of their whirlwind tour.  They’re right off of Time Square and after inadvertently causing a panic in a nearby movie theater, they’re on the run and they sneak off into a nearby ballroom gala – every one is dressed to the nines so they each grab whatever garments they can find to look more respectable.  Frank of course once again finds a cloth to over most of his face in the process. 

And as they get a bit separated, they start traversing their way through the crown on opposite sides of the dance floor where they each grab platters of food being served…..and as they glide through this crowd, they keep smiling back at each other, making faces, as they enjoy bites of the food.  They’re just being playful to each other trying to blend in with the crowd!  Soon Frank discovers his FAVORITE movie star Ronnie Reed played nicely by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is honestly more of just a background character with minimal dialogue but is doing a good job.  That encounter doesn’t go QUITE as expected but no matter as Bride once again joins Frank and for the first time, they dance TOGETHER….and bring down the house no less!  I believe the music overhead is a big band version of Irving Berlin’s “Putting on the Ritz” – now whether this is an homage to classic Hollywood musicals or that hysterical sequence in Young Frankenstein, no matter because it’s just pure fun. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Back to the titular BRIDE….as an actress, Buckley is just making SO many choices and gratefully, most of them land. She’s doing some genuinely otherworldly stuff with this performance and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of her.  I can't completely describe WHY this Klaus Kinski/Nicholas Cage-like approach worked so well for me but it just did.  It it didn’t, the rest of the film would have just fallen apart.  

Even though I question the necessity of the whole Mary Shelley-narrating device, Buckley still does a bang-up job with THAT character as well.  Buckley is definitely an actress on the rise – I really liked her in the aforementioned The Lost Daughter and her performance was likely THE best aspect of the otherwise weird-and-kind of-off-putting MEN from Alex Garland a few years ago.  Crazily enough, I have yet to see Hamnet….I know, it’s getting all of this buzz, I’ll likely check it out soon and apparently she is AMAZING in it to the point where she has the Best Actress Oscar locked up.  She clearly one of the most interesting actresses out there right now and for delivering such a banger showcase performance HERE, Jessie Buckley is the MVP. (Audio clip)   

Final Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5 

I can see why this film is getting mixed reviews and also tanking at the box office….but I can also see it developing a VERY devoted cult following over time as well.  I just found it to be a flawed but genuinely enjoyable gothic romp with Buckley killing it, Bale gratefully keeping up, and with Maggie G delivering enough as a director that I will be eagerly awaiting her next film....hopefully once again featuring Buckley as her muse. ;)

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And that ends another MONSTROUS review!