Elsa Lanchester’s striking performance catapulted her character to horror icon status in Bride of Frankenstein, director James Whale’s off-book sequel to Frankenstein, a significant feat considering her brief 4-minute appearance in the climax. Even more so considering that, despite the film’s title, it was never actually the Bride’s tale. Nor author Mary Shelley’s for that matter.
Writer/Director Maggie Gyllenhaal gives both Mary Shelley and Frankenstein’s created mate agency in The Bride!, a bold, wildly imaginative reclamation of the classic Universal Monster character. Jessie Buckley stuns in a technically tricky and emotionally complex triple role as escort-turned-victim Ida, the rebellious undead Bride, and an enraged Mary Shelley from beyond the grave.
It’s the latter who presides over the film, shrouded in monochromatic hues and dreary gothic vibes, as she posthumously creates her own story of Frankenstein’s Bride. To do so, she possesses one of Chicago’s most disenfranchised, Ida, a young woman trapped by circumstance and the evils of men.
But Shelley, who died of a brain tumor in 1851, is a bit of a mad scientist here as she cryptically and sometimes forcefully pushes her Bride to forge her own path and identity. The eternally lonely creature Frank (Christian Bale) aids her on this journey, eager to help her burn it all down just to be near her inner fire.
That this Bonnie and Clyde-style whirlwind romance and self-discovery takes place in the 1930s makes inspired sense. Not only is it in direct response to the 1935 release of Bride of Frankenstein, but, from a story perspective, it’s also the decade in which women’s rights and job opportunities were at an abysmal low, due largely to the Great Depression. Here, women are discarded and their tongues collected by unsavory mob bosses and corrupt men who’d do their dirty work or look the other way in this stylish, heightened reality that boasts exquisite production design.
Shelley’s ghostly, fractured mind is having none of this and assumes control to nudge her Bride along when necessary. As jarring as this approach can be, especially at the outset, it’s what sparks the film’s core magic: a Bride as much at war with herself as she is against the unjust system that keeps women like her, and Ida, under the constant threat of violence, sexual and otherwise.
Further fleshing out this theme and bridging Ida’s past to the Bride’s present are Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his secretary in name only, Myrna (Penélope Cruz). Jake has the social status and title, but it’s Myrna who’s the brains behind their operation and immediately puts them on Frank and the Bride’s frequently accidental trail of destruction.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s minor supporting role as matinee idol Ronnie Reed looms large over the film; it’s Ronnie’s films that relieved Frank’s viscerally painful loneliness enough to become a lifeline, then a throughline for his eventual crime spree. Jake Gyllenhaal also provides vocals for multiple ‘30s-style crooning tracks. Annette Bening appears as the eccentric but empathetic Dr. Euphronious, flanked by her Igor-like, quirky but sweet assistant Greta (Jeannie Berlin).
Maggie Gyllenhaal never strays far from her Bride, though, or the undead creature that’s thoroughly besotted by her. The complex arc of this unique romance and the equally layered, tricky performances by Buckley and Bale provide the tender, beating heart in a film that can often leave the action beats of their fugitive status on the periphery. The crime spree that the duo stumbles headfirst into is merely a catalyst here and not the focus.
It’s the Bride’s agency and ultimate self-discovery that matters to Gyllenhaal, not the circumstances, though the filmmaker never shies away from the unsavory aspects. While that can make the wave of murder and close-calls feel more muted and streamlined on occasion, it’s hard to notice with Buckley and Bale on screen. Gyllenhaal, through Shelley, finally gives Frank a sense of companionship that’s more rewarding than anticipated, and Bale’s portrayal of a tender-hearted beast anguished by decades of ostracization makes it easy for both the Bride and audiences to fall in love.
Buckley is the ultimate revelation here, turning in a livewire physical and emotional performance of a resurrected woman in turmoil as she fights for control of her own mind. The Bride is prone to righteous ramblings and fits of rage, but just as much sorrow for all the women like Ida who couldn’t be saved. Buckley has riveting control, switching from electrified undead twitches to liberated lioness in seconds, while dipping in and out of Ida’s American accent into Shelley’s British growls.
A steadfast refusal to accept the status quo and the ultimate love story set to a stunning vision of an alternate 1930s breathes invigorating new life into a classic horror character. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives her Bride a cathartic quest to find her voice. One that builds to a perhaps too tidy conclusion, at least until a deliciously defiant mid-credit scene.
Above all, The Bride! dedicates itself fully to giving the Bride of Frankenstein the chance she wasn’t really afforded in her introductory film: to live.
The Bride! releases in theaters and IMAX on March 6, 2026.
