"The Bride!" REVIEW

Published on 3/5/2026 

Written by: Braylon Mitchell 

Directed by: Maggie Gyllenhaal 

Cast: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Benning, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Magaro, etc. 

Plot: In 1930s Chicago, Frankenstein asks Dr. Euphronius to help create a companion. They give life to a murdered woman as the Bride, sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change. 

REVIEW 

On the heels of Guillermo Del Toro's 2025 adaptation "Frankenstein" and Yorgos Lanthimos' unique retelling with 2023's "Poor Things", Frankenstein stories are hot in Hollywood right now and with that Maggie Gyllenhaal's anticpated sophomore feature has arrived as an ambitious punk feminist adaptation of the Bride of Frankenstein story. In 2021, Gyllenhaal released her directorial debut with "The Lost Daughter"- a highly acclaimed, fall festival darling film that earned Gyllenhaal an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as a lot of other awards love particularly with awards that solely recognize independent film. Her debut was by all means a success, which makes her choosing to make this film as her follow up all the more interesting. Instead of playing it safe, Gyllenhaal knew she was in the postion to go all out- getting a major studio to give her a budget and backing to make this bizarre film. A film that Warner Bros. must've known would flop at the box office and is currently getting poor reviews, but a film that is undoubtedly being talked about at the moment. You'll read these four words in just about every review of this film, postive or negative- "it takes big swings". That it does. Most swings don't land, most are a bit baffling from an artistic perespective- but a swing is a swing, and in major studio films like these that's always something to admire. Directionally, Gyllenhaal tries a lot- with the film's tone, social themes, the relationship between Frank & the Bride, etc. Again, a lot of what she tries doesn't work very well and feels a bit misguided (something that negatively affects Christian Bale's performance in particular) but it's interesting. It is a messy film, but at least it's a bold and interesting mess. 

THREE BEST ELEMENTS

• It's boldness. As I mentioned often in the paragraph above, this film's boldness is a positive for me. Especially, I really enjoyed all of the 1930s old Hollywood musical numbers starring Jake Gyllenhaal that Frank & the Bride watch throughout the film in different movie theaters/drive ins. Also, in the second act there's an inexplicable dance number to "Puttin' on the Ritz" that's honestly kinda nutty- I obviously loved it. The film ends with a "Monster Mash" needle drop too, I thought that was funny. 

• Jessie Buckley's performance. She's putting a LOT into this performance. It's a loud, highly energetic, insane performance where Buckley shows no fear in testing things out. I can't say she's "amazing" in the film or anything like that because the way her character is written and the a lot of the dialogue she has isn't up to par, but her performance is engaging. It's nice to see such a brave, bold performance from her as she's a mere week away from winning an Oscar for "Hamnet" on March 15th. It's a great time to have been a fan of hers for many years now. 

• The makeup and hairstyling. Suberb work throughout, especially on our two main characters. The splattered blood on the side of the Bride's mouth has already made a mark as quite memorable and the signature image of the film. 

WORST ELEMENT 

• The wasted potential of much of the cast. This film cast is stacked with so many talented actors. Annette Benning, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Magaro, and many other awesome character actors in smaller supporting roles. Most all of those actors lack having a compelling/well written character to latch onto or enough screen time to leave as big a mark as I'm certain they would've if the screenplay didn't undercut their roles. 

RATING

5/10

Watch it if you want to watch something polarizing, buddy!