The Bride! is an electrifying tale that leaves you clawing for more. Jessie Buckley delivers a phenomenal performance as the troubled Bride brought to life, with Christian Bale delivering a moving portrayal as Frankenstein‘s monster. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s script and direction are an absolute masterclass in storytelling and proves that women should be in charge of Hollywood with this retelling. “People love a monster,” and Gyllenhaal certainly serves up all of the good and bad monstrosities one could hope for in this film.
As is common in most films throughout cinema history, male protagonist’s feelings and motivations are justified and easily believable. The Bride! immediately holds up the mirror and forces us to ask ourselves why? The film firmly establishes The Bride/Ida/Penelope (Buckley) as a troubled female protagonist unknowingly brought back to life. Shouldn’t The Bride be autonomous and decide for herself whether or not she wants to live her own life? Or should she be subject to the whims of the person who asks for her creation? With a plot that examines all of these questions and more, we’re given a cinematic experience that is a wildly entertaining and thought-provoking time.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s script sets this drama in 1936, taking place over 100 years after the events of the novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. This decision serves the film well as it allows an intriguing look at women’s search for autonomy in the early 20th century. Gyllenhaal offers a much more nuanced and accurate point of view of women’s struggles in the different characters we’re introduced to. In other words, each female character presented on-screen faces opposition, threats of safety, harassment, and more from a place of true understanding instead of assumption and, more commonly found in men-led films, voyeurism.
Luckily, we also see women experience success, achievement, and pleasure from the female gaze in this film. This is incredibly valuable in modern day storytelling, because we often lack the mental and emotional aspects of lived experience that accurately depict life for women that don’t come solely from external validation. While Frank (Bale) asks for The Bride to be brought to life for his own sexual yearning, her reinvigoration demonstrates just how selfish and one-sided his request is. Even if she is at her essence simply a dead body brought back to life, why would he assume she’d have no say in the matter? While most retellings of Frankenstein‘s story garner sympathy for his solitude, few ask whether or not he truly deserves to have a female partner. If his experience is so lonely and tragic, why would he subject a female companion to the same life of tortured existence? Would his love alone truly be enough? The Bride! leans toward answering this with a multifaceted “no.” We see The Bride engage in intercourse portrayed from and for the female gaze, again a POV rarely seen in cinema. We see her grapple with a deep yearning for independence, while struggling with the notion of having a life partner in relation to her mental health. All of this helps to drive a plot in which we have a troubled woman protagonist who we root for with little judgment and great sympathy. A very welcome change to plots that typically use women as accessories that serve the basic fantasies (sexual and otherwise) of men.
Jessie Buckley shines on screen with her deeply moving portrayal of the troubled Ida/Bride/Mary Shelley. Haunted by multiple personalities, she’s murdered by mobsters and brought back to life by Frank (Christian Bale) and Dr. Euphronious (Bening), who’s already intimately familiar with the work of Dr. Frankenstein. Buckley convincingly inhabits the multiple personas that switch along her journey, often at inconvenient times. While portraying Mary Shelley, we see a foul-mouthed, assertive persona who rebels against all forms of oppression, even resorting to violence. While portraying Ida/Penelope, Buckley breathes life into a personality that exudes a hard shell, and simultaneously a soft emotional state. At her core, Buckley maintains the essence yearning, love, and respect that has been clearly absent from much of her life.
Penelope Cruz plays Myrna Mallow, an aspiring detective who knows all too well what it’s like doing all of the work for none of the credit. Cruz’s performance is intriguing as we see just how far she may or may not go to solve The Bride’s string of murders. Bening’s portrayal of Dr. Euphronious expertly depicts an accomplished professional woman who still must operate in a world that would dismiss some of the greatest accomplishments of her time if the truth was known. We see her battle between career achievement and emotional consideration for The Bride, all while harboring deep secrets of her own.
The Bride! is an empowering showcase of womanhood, independence, and tragic love. Gyllenhaal’s brilliant direction guides this film through an incredibly moving journey exploring self-acceptance and girl power. With brilliant costuming by Sandy Powell, period hair and makeup by Kay Georgiou and Nicki Ledermann, visually stunning cinematography by Lawrence Sher, unique color grading, and beautiful set designs by Rena DeAngelo, The Bride! pieces together solid craftsmanship from each department in the production process, showcasing a masterclass in both storytelling and filmmaking.
The Bride! hits theaters on March 6, 2026.
