The Bride! Intensifies the Frankenstein Reimagining Seen in Poor Things

In a parallel reality, there likely exists a more conventional version of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride!—a gothic romance tailored for mass appeal. The skeletal structure of that film is visible here: a dark, atmospheric road movie following Frankenstein’s lonely creature and his resurrected companion as they navigate a world hostile to anyone branded as a “monster.” However, Gyllenhaal’s actual vision is far more challenging and abrasive.

Gyllenhaal’s directorial approach is uncompromising. This iteration of The Bride! is an intellectual provocation, designed to unsettle and perplex rather than provide easy emotional warmth. While the narrative’s dense layers occasionally obscure its visceral impact, the filmmaker seems perfectly content to make her audience work for their understanding.

Jessie Buckley, reuniting with Gyllenhaal after The Lost Daughter, portrays Ida, a woman initially seen navigating the 1930s Chicago underworld. Her true motivations are shrouded until the final act, complicated by the fact that she appears possessed by the spirit of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (also played by Buckley). Speaking from a metaphysical limbo, Shelley claims she is authoring the visceral, uninhibited sequel she was never allowed to tell, manipulating Ida toward a series of reckless behaviors that lead to her untimely demise.

Ida’s story truly begins in the laboratory of Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), a scientist who has refined Victor Frankenstein’s methods of reanimation. When the stitched-together creature known as “Frank” (Christian Bale) demands a partner to end his isolation, Euphronius eventually yields. What follows echoes the themes of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, as the revived Ida quickly proves she has no interest in being a submissive, made-to-order spouse. Despite her amnesia, she is driven by a hedonistic urge for nightlife and liberation, sending her and a desperate Frank on a cross-country flight.

While Poor Things offered a direct commentary on female agency, The Bride! opts for something more volatile. Ida’s personality is a shifting target, frequently hijacked by Shelley’s erratic authorial interferences. Gyllenhaal draws heavy inspiration from James Whale’s 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein, particularly in Buckley’s striking aesthetic—the iconic gravity-defying hair and dramatic makeup—but she abandons Whale’s clear moral framework in favor of a surrealist exploration.

Bale’s portrayal of Frank is a departure from previous incarnations. He is neither the intellectual philosopher of the novel nor the grunting brute of the Karloff era. Instead, he is a socially stunted, vulnerable figure defined by a desperate need for connection, occasionally spiraling into fits of jealousy and violence. Meanwhile, Buckley infuses Ida with a haunting soulfulness, even as the character’s fragmented memories and periodic possessions make her difficult to pin down. Her “monster” look—marked by black fluid staining her lips—eventually transforms her into a disruptive counter-culture icon, a thread Gyllenhaal explores through memorable, avant-garde visuals.

The film is further populated by tangential storylines, including a pursuit by detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his brilliant secretary Myrna (Penélope Cruz). Their dynamic—where Myrna’s intellect is stifled by a patriarchal system—mirrors Ida’s struggle for autonomy. Additionally, Jake Gyllenhaal appears in a brief but electric role as cinema star Ronnie Reed, serving as the object of Frank’s obsession and the catalyst for a surreal musical sequence that pays homage to Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.

Ultimately, The Bride! feels like its own stitched-together creation—a chaotic assembly of ideas about female rage, the rejection of predatory roles, and the desire to be seen as more than a possession. While these disparate parts don’t always move in perfect unison, the result is a film that demands to be dissected. Much like the creatures that inspired it, Gyllenhaal’s latest is a magnificent, unwieldy monster.

The Bride! makes its theatrical debut on March 6.

Source: Polygon