‘The Bride!’ Review: A Beautiful Mess of Monster Movie Ambition

Few movie-lovers can resist a monster film, and there are few monsters more famous than Frankenstein’s. There are almost 500 films that feature Mary Shelley’s creation, Frankenstein. But what about his bride? Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! gives an answer. It’s as messy as it is mesmerizing, anchored by two performances so electric they nearly resurrect the genre single-handedly. 

Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale), who goes by Frankenstein, arrives at the home of Dr. Euphronius, who is known for her work on reinvigoration. He has one simple request, for Dr. Euphronius to use her science to reinvigorate a companion for him, a bride. Ida (Jessie Buckley; Hamnet) is freshly dead, and they choose her for the process. Within minutes of the film, we have our bride. From there, Frankenstein, who also goes by “Frank,” spends the remainder of the film attempting to make a life with her. The Bride, who has no memory of who she was before the “accident,” is trying to figure out who she is. Things don’t go exactly as planned, and the two end up on the lam, outrunning two detectives. 

Two Actors, One Heartbeat

I can’t think of two better actors to cast as Frankenstein’s monster and The Bride other than Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley. These two actors were the best choice to embody these characters because they are the kind of actors who slip inside a character and disappear, getting completely lost in their skin. Buckley is an unstoppable force as The Bride and Mary Shelley. She rocks a tortured freedom with a fragile punk rock attitude. Meanwhile, Bale as Frank wears a gentility as Frankenstein’s Monster. He’s a gentle giant in awe of The Bride. 

The Mind Behind the Mayhem

Gyllenhaal accomplishes a completely fresh take on monstrous characters that many of us grew up with. There’s a tightrope to walk when attempting to reinvent something people cherish as a classic, and she managed to resurrect creatures who are equal parts timid and lonely, ferocious and violent. Set in the 1930s, The Bride! feels punk rock, almost ahead of its time, and carries a vibe that reminds me of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or the “Banana Boat” scene in Beetlejuice.

This film is vastly different from Gyllenhaal’s first feature, The Lost Daughter. That film was a psychological drama, while this one feels like an explosion. Where the first film was a whisper, this one is a scream. It’s filled with an energy that’ll keep you from getting bored. You’re completely invested in where this film is going and how it will end, because the choices made keep it from being predictable. Though the pacing is good and the runtime feels tight, the film could’ve benefited from an editing of ideas to make for a more streamlined story with a clearer message. It’s hard for a film to be impactful if audiences are confused as to what’s happening.

Scenes that Linger

One scene that will linger with me is when Frank and The Bride have to make a run for it. He stops at a water fountain and begins to undress. The Bride thinks he’s about to take a bath, but he steps into the fountain and begins scooping the change out of the bottom. It’s a sad scene because we get a glimpse at the things Frank has had to do to survive throughout the years.

Another banger scene is Gyllenhaal’s reimagining of “Monster Mash”. This might be where most of the Joker: Folie à Deux comparisons come in. It’s the best representation of the world that Frank and now The Bride live in—outside societal norms, riding a different electrical pulse. It would’ve been nice to see this style pushed further, inviting more fantastical elements into the world Gyllenhaal created, instead of opting for a weak gumshoe detective subplot. Plus, anything that lets Bale dance is a win for the Newsies fans, amirite? 

Where it Stumbles

The film feels like a junk drawer, not in the sense that it’s trash, but in the sense that it’s filled with various useful items that don’t exactly work together. They aren’t things you should “throw away,” but they just don’t work together. 

While many will agree that Peter Sarsgaard and Penélope Cruz are fantastic actors, the switch to them as Detective Jake Wiles and Myrna Mallow kept disrupting the flow of the film. Their connection to our bride was held by such a weak thread that it makes you wonder why they were needed at all. Had the film focused solely on Frank and The Bride, we might’ve been able to get deeper into the psyche of our characters and beneath their dead skin to gain more insight into the way they keep each other alive in this world. 

Monsters and their Hearts

There’s a beautiful love story amidst the rubble of this film. Frank’s loneliness is the catalyst for the resurrection of our bride, creating deep empathy for him. At times, we tend to feel more for Frank than for The Bride. He’s a lovestruck puppy who has been longing for someone to love and take care of. From the moment The Bride is brought to life, her well-being is at the forefront of every decision he makes. And even when he becomes physically ill at the thought of being alone again, he’s willing to let her go. He won’t hold her hostage; instead, he’s hoping she’ll choose to stay. Not out of obligation or pity, but because she wants to.

But here’s the complication: though we love how he feels for her, Frank begins his courtship with The Bride dishonestly. He lies, making her believe they were something “before the accident.” And she believes it. The Bride loves him even after the truth comes out, which leaves you wondering if Frank needed to lie at all. When he first saw what she looked like, he said she was “too pretty” for him. This reveals his insecurity—he was already afraid she wouldn’t like him, let alone love him.

When Frank finally told her the truth, the film could’ve given him a moment to expound not just on his motivation, but on his insecurity. A moment where he realizes that, despite it all, she still fell for him and wanted to be with him for who he was. As she said in a previous scene, “I feel like I’ve always known you.” It’s the most human desire in a film full of monsters—the wish to be loved back freely. There’s an ongoing dance between Frank’s selfless devotion and The Bride’s fierce independence. Frankenstein’s monster didn’t ask to be created, and The Bride didn’t ask to be resurrected. Still, Frank wants to be loved by choice, not force. This quiet, devastating decency, the kind you wouldn’t expect from a monster, makes his loneliness all the more palpable.

Mary Shelley, What Are You Doing Here? 

One of the weaker points in the film isn’t the appearance of Mary Shelley but the timing of said appearance. Mary Shelley introduces us to the film, which seems fine. But suddenly, it appears that she possesses a woman, Ida, soon to become our Bride. Mary and The Bride share this body throughout the film, and it keeps audiences scratching their heads. While The Bride is trying to figure out who she is, Mary Shelley gives her riddles and prompts to ponder. To an outsider, it looks like our Bride has a mental illness. But once The Bride comes to terms with the person she is now, Mary Shelley seems pleased and leaves her alone. This left audiences even more befuddled as to what Mary’s purpose was in the first place. Again, this comes down to timing.

It didn’t make sense for Mary to possess our Bride before her resurrection. How did Mary know who Frank would choose? It would’ve made more sense for Mary’s spirit to possess The Bride once she was resurrected. That would’ve made Mary’s purpose more clear: to help our Bride claim her own identity and to experience freedom vicariously. Throughout the film, The Bride keeps asking who she is. Frank tells her something different each time. Then, when she runs into someone who knew her while she was living, she gets a different answer. But none of those people reflect who she is now. She even asks Mary Shelley if she would tell her what her name is, and she responds, “I would prefer not to.”  Had Mary possessed The Bride during the reinvigoration process, it would’ve seemed like she chose to possess her because she knew what was about to happen and didn’t want this woman’s identity to be shaped by a man. So she imparted herself into The Bride so that she had the help she needed to make her own decision, forge her own path, and decide, for herself, who she wanted to be: not Frank’s Bride. The Bride.

See it Now, Love it Later

Gyllenhaal swings for the fences and sometimes misses, but when it connects, it makes a lasting impact. The Bride! is a peek inside Gyllenhaal’s mind, and it’s fascinating. The film isn’t perfect, but perfection can be boring. There’s something exciting about all of its moving pieces and the parts that seem to have been left with loose ends. Perhaps this is where the lore begins, allowing audiences to fill in the pieces with their own theories. Still, I would’ve gladly sat for an additional hour just to watch Bale and Buckley spar with each other. Regardless of how audiences initially receive it, The Bride! will have its streaming resurgence and one day will be reinvigorated as a monster classic.