✒️Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, dark horror-comedy ‘The Bride’ is a dual tribute to both books and cinema. Based on Mary Shelley’s enduring classic ‘Frankenstein’, which got a fantastic reboot from Guillermo del Toro in 2025, Gyllenhaal’s version plays almost like a sequel to the events of the original story. And in a little twist, it imagines Mary Shelley as a ghost, trapped in the other world and itching to tell a new story.
First off, since I am writing this review quite some time after the film’s release, it’s obvious that you’re reading it even later, so my advice would be to ignore the abysmal IMDb rating like I did. It was 5.6 at the time and could’ve changed by now. If I had to rate it out of ten, I’d give it a 7.5.
But then again, maybe read this spoiler-free opinion to understand what works and what doesn’t in The Bride!, because it’s not too hard to surmise why the film has divided audiences. To make things easier, I’ll divide this write-up into a plot overview, what works, and what doesn’t.
Plot overview: It’s the 1930s, and Frankenstein AKA Frank (Christian Bale) has travelled all the way to Chicago to convince the talented Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. They find the corpse of a woman and successfully reanimate her. Even though she doesn’t remember who she is, she is wild, independent, and not interested in simply being “the bride.
As fragments of her memories return, she sparks a movement by loudly speaking out against a powerful, corrupt mob boss who has exploited and murdered multiple women, while the system colludes with him to deny the victims justice.
A parallel subplot follows detectives Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz) as they chase Frank and the Bride for a double murder. Myrna is the true brain of the duo, piecing together clues to find their suspects, while Jake Wiles gets to take credit for her work. Because it’s the 1930s.
What works for the Bride: The encounter between Frank and Dr. Euphronius is comical, witty, and absolutely entertaining. She isn’t too keen on making the Bride but finally caves in because of scientific curiosity. In fact, the dynamic between Christian Bale’s monster and Annette Bening’s nutty doctor was so much fun that I could’ve watched an entire film simply about them hunting for the right corpse and going through failed experiments until they were finally successful.
Their bond is strangely heartwarming, especially for those familiar with the angst and trauma the creature undergoes in the original story.
However, the absolute highlight of this film is Jessie Buckley’s electrifying performance as the Bride, a woman silenced by powerful men, reawakened because a lonely man seeks a companion for life, only to refuse to be defined by the men around her.
She constantly questions Frank about who she was, and the two become fugitives after Frank saves her from sexual assault by murdering the men who attack her. As the police chase them, the Bride becomes a symbol of rebellion against patriarchy and violence. Jessie Buckley commands every scene, her body language and dialogue delivery are arresting, dramatic, and memorable.
Christian Bale convincingly disappears into the persona of Frank, who after years of being spurned by the world, finally finds someone willing to help him. His fantasy of having a bride comes true, and it’s love at first sight for him. In fact, in a touching moment, he asks Dr. Euphronius not to use one of the corpses they find, saying, “she is too beautiful.”
And when the Bride shows a mind of her own, he never attempts to force her into anything. He is gentle, kind, and self-sacrificing. In the end, this is also a romance, a dark, tragicomic one rife with violence, longing, and pain.
The cinematography is moody and nostalgic, evoking the charm of the early talkies era while still having the stylish edge of modern filmmaking. A major subplot focuses on Frank’s infatuation with Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), a movie star who overcame polio as a child and, despite having uneven legs, is known for his dreamy dancing and onscreen persona. This allows the film to indulge in some striking cinematic moments, including a dazzling dance sequence at a high-society party that Frank and the Bride break into while on the run.
What Doesn’t work for the Bride!: Maggie Gyllenhaal tries to tell multiple stories within the tight two-hour runtime, and while the film definitely didn’t need to be a minute longer, it’s unable to bind all its different threads together in a consistently entertaining way. So the pace becomes challenging in parts.
For instance, Mary Shelley is introduced in the opening minutes of The Bride! as the primary narrator, and we see her as a ghost possessing the Bride’s body, although she is then forgotten for large chunks of the story. In the end, using Shelley herself feels more like a gimmick, as putting a famous dead author inside a story inspired by her work is obviously novel, but the film doesn’t do anything particularly meaningful with it.
Another tricky aspect of The Bride! is the fact that it bends multiple genres. It’s got crime noir, weird science fiction, dark comedy, feminist themes, and also an unlikely love story at the centre of it all. And even though Frank and the Bride are individually fantastic, together they don’t make a lot of sense, especially in the first half of the film.
Like I wrote earlier, it almost feels like a story about Frank and the nutty doctor working together to reanimate a partner for him, failing repeatedly, and eventually falling in love with each other would’ve been more fun. Also because, weirdly enough, Frank and the Doctor had more onscreen chemistry.
That said, the climactic moments of The Bride! are over-the-top, bloody, and darkly hilarious, bringing the tale to a macabre yet promising conclusion.
Rating: 7.5 on 10. Watch ‘The Bride!’ on Hotstar or rent it on Prime.
Read Next: Mary Shelley Vs Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (Audio Version Below)
