The Bride review: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ambitious new film is one of the most unusual Frankenstein adaptations in years. What if the Bride of Frankenstein is a mercurial proto-feminist with a raging spirit and the capacity for chaos to match? This is the central premise on which actress-turned-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal hinges her sophomore film. Rating: 6/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆
The Bride! (2025) Movie Info
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Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
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Writers: Maggie Gyllenhaal
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Cast: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening
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Genre: Horror / Fantasy / Musical
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Release Date: 2025
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Runtime: ~2 hours
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Studio: Warner Bros.
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Based On: The Bride of Frankenstein (Universal Monsters)
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Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is a bold reimagining of the classic Bride of Frankenstein character, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. The film joins a growing wave of modern reinterpretations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein mythology.
After a terrific debut with The Lost Daughter – a haunting, sensitive drama about motherhood – Gyllenhaal changes frequency with a loud, hyperkinetic reimagining of an iconic yet woefully underdeveloped character in the Frankenstein lore, the film features a star-studded cast led by Jessie Buckley (Gyllenhaal’s Oscar-nominated The Lost Daughter leading lady) alongside Christian Bale, Peter Saarsgaard, Penelope Cruz, Annette Bening, and many more.
The Bride! is an admirable addition to the Frankenstein cinematic universe – though it’s often riddled with too many mismatched ideas stitched together. The Bride! marks Maggie Gyllenhaal’s bold attempt to reinvent the classic Bride of Frankenstein story for modern audiences.
The Bride! Plot: A Jazz Age Twist on the Frankenstein Story
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The Bride! reimagines the classic Bride of Frankenstein story in a stylized 1930s Jazz Age setting. Moving away from the 19th-century setting of the original story, The Bride! takes place amid the thrum of the Jazz Age in the 1930s. Frankenstein’s monster (Bale) has been a living dead for centuries and is getting woefully lonely. He enlists the help of a mad scientist (Bening) to find him a mate. Enter Ida (Buckley), a feisty flapper girl who meets an untimely end, falling down a flight of stairs. Long story short, Ida’s corpse is exhumed from her grave and reanimated to become the monster’s forever bride.
However, the reawakened Ida, though with no recollection of her past, retains her former self’s feistiness. Sporting thunderstruck platinum hair and a dark splotch across her face, she proves to be an untameable beast even for the monster who created her, which ironically drives him more in love. Together, the pair becomes a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style duo roaming the neon-lit nightlife of Chicago. But still troubled by her lost memory, the Bride starts questioning the monster’s claim about her origin.
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To call The Bride! Ambitious would be an understatement. The film is a mishmash of tones and genres, much in the way Frankenstein pieced together separate body parts to create a new entity. It’s a flapper musical meets neo noir meets steam-punk. Visually, it makes for a pleasing treat to the eyes. The film is bursting with striking anachronistic imagery. Unfortunately, The Bride!’s beauty is skin deep. Just like the creature’s eventual malfunction, this strange amalgamation of ideas ends up betraying the film’s cohesion as a whole.
Gyllenhaal never quite knows what kind of film she wants to make. Or rather, the filmmaker seems to want it to be everything. At times, it’s a dysfunctional love story between The Bride and the creature. At other times, it’s trying to be a science fiction cautionary tale. Some other time, it tries to be a feminist manifesto on consent and the role of women in society.
Then, when the couple becomes fugitives, a pair of detectives (played by Saarsgard and Cruz) enter the story, and suddenly, we have a noir crime slash screwball comedy. In the middle of it all, it finds time to aspire to be a Mel Brooks-style musical – the bottom line is, it is densely packed with IDEAS.
The Bride review
The problem is that, at slightly over two hours, these interesting ideas simply have little room to fully develop. The frequent tonal shift is jarring and detracts you from fully grasping the storyline. Meanwhile, the bait-and-switch presentation of so many different genres leaves you feeling unfulfilled. Like you’re promised a cool gift only to find an empty box with a “better luck next time” note inside. It feels like a prank, and that’s frustrating because had the film stuck to one lane, it would have had major potential to be great.
Still, you can’t fault the film for being boring. This jukebox of a movie constantly sweeps the rug from under you. Just when you think it’s going one way, it’s suddenly going the polar opposite way. There’s clearly an attempt here to reinvent conventional narrative – and even if it misses (often), one can’t help admire the earnest attempt at originality here.
Jessie Buckley’s Ferocious Performance as The Bride
The Bride review
The one thing that is unambiguously terrific in this movie is Buckley’s performance as The Bride. She’s enigmatic and ferocious in the role, so vastly different from her grounded Hamnet role, currently favored to win the Oscar yet just as intensely rich. She imbues the Bride with simmering anger and madcap lunacy as the newly reanimated monstress.
Physicality factors a lot into the role. There is a playful quality to her performance that renders her endearing in a twisted way. You can tell the actress had fun playing the Bride. Having seen Hamnet before The Bride! also added another layer of marvel at Buckley’s insane range: this woman is unbelievably versatile when it comes to immersion – she simply disappears into whatever role is given to her.
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Christian Bale’s Frankenstein Monster Compared to Recent Versions
Buckley’s presence inadvertently elevated Bale’s role as the monster. His character has the classic features of Frankenstein’s creature: stitched-up forehead, patchworky body, lumbering movements. However, and this is not entirely Bale’s fault, the shadow of Jacob Elordi’s much-adored recent performance as the monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein looms large over his interpretation. The former is an earnest portrayal with a lot of heart, while Bale’s is meant to be morally questionable. Comparison is inevitable, and Bale’s version definitely ain’t coming out on top.
Final Verdict: A Bold but Overstuffed Frankenstein Reimagining
Despite its flaws, The Bride! stands out as one of the more unusual modern Frankenstein adaptations. Ultimately, despite its bold vision, The Bride! eventually gets engulfed in its own lofty aspirations. It’s too many ingredients crammed into one recipe that is left half-baked, resulting in a strange flavor that is not all that appealing. However, if there’s one thing still coming up roses after all that, it’s definitely Buckley. Her performance alone might be able to get you through this overzealous journey.
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The Bride review
The Bride! Review Summary
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Overall Score: 6/10
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Best Performance: Jessie Buckley
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Biggest Strength: Visual style and originality
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Biggest Weakness: Too many conflicting genres
