RATING 2.5 out of 5

The Bride! is a punk rock, 1930s Great Depression era, Bonnie and Clyde inspired take on two of cinema’s most iconic classic monsters, featuring two riveting performances from Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale and outstanding visuals and direction from Maggie Gyllenhaal, which help to overcome the film’s scattered narrative.

Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein made their big screen debut back in the 1930s, and since then, both characters have become a staple within the horror genre. Whether audiences truly know their story, they are instantly recognizable thanks to the iconic looks of them from the classic Universal monster films, though The Bride of Frankenstein is more often than not merely a supporting character in Frankenstein’s story. However, writer and director Maggie Gyllenhaal is correcting that with her second feature film behind the camera, giving a feminist twist on the character in The Bride! The growth Maggie Gyllenhaal shows as a visual storyteller is undeniable within minutes of The Bride! starting as the expansive canvas in which the story is told lends itself to immersive world building that is beautifully brought to life by the film’s technical aspects. Though despite the film having some bold and exciting ideas at its core, Maggie Gyllenhaal bites off more narratively than she can succinctly distill within a single film that prevents the film from achieving its ambitious goals, but luckily the performances from the cast are exceptional and make the film a respectable yet unfulfilling cinematic big swing rather than a complete misfire.

There are many ideas at play in The Bride!: The Bride herself is possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley who is channelling her ambitions for her character from beyond the grave, Frank and The Bride find themselves in a Bonnie and Clyde-esque murder spree on the run from the authorities, Frank’s love of movie musicals and screen actor Ronnie Reed, the detective and his assistant on the hunt for Frank and The Bride, The Bride’s forgotten past, the ideas of monster and creation from Shelley’s original text, all woven into the tragic romance of The Bride and Frank. It is a lot to type out in this review to make sure no aspect of the story is missed being mentioned, let alone for audiences to digest in the film itself, and this is all before the accounting feminist revolution that The Bride sparks in a subplot that feels eerily reminiscent of Joker. 

There is no question that there are some great ideas at play in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s screenplay which help to create the whirlwind but doomed romance between The Bride and Frank come to life on the screen. But for every intriguing idea that is well developed in the screenplay, there is another that is underdeveloped and feels like an unnecessary distraction from the main story and themes. While it’s easy to enthusiastically support Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feminist commentary that reflects on women’s place in society, using the time period as a mirror to comment on how far we as a society have come since then but also still how far we need to progress in this regard, the multiple narrative threads dampen the importance of what Maggie Gyllenhaal is trying to say.  It’s a case of Maggie Gyllenhaal taking on too much narratively in a single film to allow each plot idea to fully develop, including some ideas that clash with the feminist motives at the heart of the screenplay, which ultimately drags the film’s pacing, muddles the film’s main ideas and leaves audiences questioning what the thematic intention was. Was it a bold feminist reclamation of one of the horror genre’s most historic characters? Or simply a tragic love story that just happens to pay tribute to the classic characters of Frankenstein? And sadly, the answer is not clear.

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Even though the story may leave audiences questioning what was the purpose of The Bride! was, the film features flawless performances that are worth the price of admission alone. It is a stellar cast that Maggie Gyllenhaal has assembled for The Bride! and their performances elevate the otherwise uneven film at every turn. Buckley adds another tour de force performance to her resume as The Bride / Ida / Mary Shelley, embracing the wildness of her character with a mean spirited portrayal in one moment, before finding a more human side to her character in the next, expertly balancing the chaos and tranquility within The Bride. From the manic energy of The Bride as she is reintroduced to the world and embraces the dangerous power she finds alongside Frank, the emotional reminiscing of her past life and her complex feelings towards Frank, to the physicality of her performance from the way she movies as The Bride and the dance numbers, there is not a moment where Buckley is anything short of sensational… even if it is unlike anything audiences have previously seen from her. It is a performance that truly proves that Buckley is the mother f*%#ing deal and cements herself as one of the most exciting younger actresses working today.

Bale takes on the mantle of Frankenstein, following a long list of legendary performances, but his iteration of the character is truly unique. Yes, there are moments of unnerving rage where Bale lets out Frank’s monstrous side, but he plays Frank as a lonely, romantic individual looking for his person in the world. With a sweetness and dance in every step, Bale finds a tenderness in this musical loving monster that is beautiful, and alongside Buckley they create a touching romance amidst the chaos of their characters’ actions. Jake Gyllenhaal is impressive as Ronnie Reed, doing his best Fred Astaire impersonation in the musical sequences while finding a seedy undertone to this actor, Penélope Cruz is a spitfire as Myrna, the detective’s assistant whose talents are ignored due to the fact that she is female, and Annette Bening mixes curiosity and compassion as Dr. Euphronious. With such talent on screen, it ensures that the performances help to elevate the writing at every turn, even if they cannot fix the screenplay’s underlying issues.