'The Bride!' Review
- Trevor Leavell
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 03/06/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Drama. Horror. Romance. SciFi.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Verdict: A Must-See
It’s always fun to have a twist on things, I suppose. After a formal exercise on Mary Shelley’s text from Guillermo del Toro last fall, Maggie Gyllenhaal gives us a Bonnie and Clyde fusion with the tale of Frankenstein’s creature’s Bride. Taking place in 1936 (the year after the release of James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein), Frankenstein’s creature ("Frank") comes to a Dr. Cornelia Euphronious in search of a corpse to reanimate into a bride. They find the body of a woman named Ida, who just before she died, was possessed by the ramblings of a long dead Mary Shelley. So, it’s quite the set up.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s original script and direction all show big ambitions. However, I’m not sure they all come to the heights she’s aiming to reach. There’s a lot of things to like here, and a lot of things to maybe really even love. Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley feel electric here; Bale eats up the ravishing scenery, while Buckley delivers a sexually charged manic roar of a performance. In the supporting cast we have a handful of players whose performances change from strong to flat. Annette Bening and Penélope Cruz are always fun to watch on screen, and it’s fun to see Jeannie Berlin as well, but the other additions of the supporting cast are otherwise nothing to note.Â
Now, the film’s shortcomings don’t really come from her direction; by all means, the film is confidently put together, while also feeling wholly unrestrained. However, the script feels a little safe. While it’s fun, the story never takes the steps further to surprise and amp up the excitement. There are so many ideas at play, but a lot of them fall flat to the floor, and those that do work, only really work to an extent. The Bride! is a great crime-horror fusion romp, but there's a nagging feeling that it could have been so much more.