The Bride! Gives New Life to a Story We Think We Know

Have you ever seen a movie and thought, “Well, hell, this is going to be my whole personality for a while”? That is exactly how I felt the entire time I watched The Bride! and honestly, even after sleeping on it for a few days, I still feel that way. I will try to keep this review mostly spoiler-free, but I will discuss some of the film’s details. I won’t reveal the ending of the film, but consider yourself warned.

In The Bride!, “a lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman, and The Bride is born. But what ensues is beyond what either of them imagined.”

I’ve long been a fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal since seeing her in Secretary during its theatrical run. This was my first experience with her directing, and I was wowed. Note to self: Go watch The Lost Daughter. The movie feels kind of crazy and frenetic, but also heartfelt in ways. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a conversation with my husband afterwards about how both of us felt seen in this story. Gyllenhaal, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, really dug into the themes of monstrosity and, by proxy, otherness. Instead of focusing on the Creature (Frank) feeling outside of society, this film focuses on The Bride exploring who she is, what her values are, and what she wants. Jessie Buckley (The Bride) illustrated this by saying, “this [the film] is something that cracks the ceiling and redefines what it is to love and what it is to live.” She followed up with, “I think this film is about autonomy of the self and incubating your monster, your shadows, so you can be in an undeniable full-bodied relationship with each other.”

Speaking of The Bride, a big departure that The Bride! takes from Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is that instead of only seeing the titular character for a few minutes at the end, we get to spend the majority of the film with her. She is brought back to life about 30 minutes into the film (I checked for posterity) out of its 2-hour-plus runtime. When discussing this, Gylenhaal stated, “What happens if you take that same format, that same story, but you give her a huge amount of agency, and give her a huge amount of need, and intelligence, and soulfulness, and vulnerability, and power? Then what happens? That seemed like a puzzle worth getting into.” Unsurprisingly, this really works, especially with Jessie Buckley in the role of The Bride.

Buckley’s portrayal of the titular character is a sight to behold. Every moment she is on screen, you can’t take your eyes off her. The update from a white dress and bandages to a punky orange dress and boots feels like it matches the new personality we see in The Bride. The contrast between the modest look of the outfit in the 1930s adaptation and the more exposed and raw look of the outfit in this film is a telling visualization of the fact that this is a character who has more to her than hiding herself for only her future husband. The style of The Bride’s hair is also more chaotic and feels less “proper”. I also have to mention that I adore that Mary Shelley is not left by the wayside after the start of the movie. Also portrayed by Buckley, she is infused into the character. The Bride is possessed by the author, pushing her to find her own name. It very much feels like a woman reminding another woman of her own strength. It made the introduction of the story more female-focused as well because, unlike the 1935 version, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron aren’t pushing Mary to tell stories.

The Creature, known in this film as Frank, undergoes a lot of changes in this adaptation that depart from the 1935 film. These changes, however, do mirror the book in some ways. Instead of being kind of an oaf, Frank is well spoken and intelligent. He’s flawed in his approach to finding a partner, but he evolves throughout the film. I think setting the film around 100 years after the events of Frankenstein allows for this. He’s had time to explore the world and learn what it means to live in it without Dr. Frankenstein and the quest for revenge. I’m not the biggest Christian Bale fan, but he really excels in this role. It feels like he really understood when to sort of step back and let Buckley shine. The chemistry they share onscreen is electric (pun intended).

Other changes I appreciated were the change in the characterization of Dr. Pretorius to Dr. Euphronius. Having Frank meet Dr. Euphronius earlier in the film worked better, especially given that the film comes full circle and ends there as well. Euphronius’ hesitancy at creating a bride for Frank is also a welcome change. While we are talking about character changes from the 1935 film, I liked the addition of the noir and detective elements. The addition of these characters added vibes reminiscent of films of the 1930s, as well as films like His Girl Friday and Bonnie and Clyde (both of which were listed as influences of the film). Peter Sarsgaard’s Jake Wiles and Penélope Cruz’s Myrna Molloy are great foils to Frank and The Bride. They help to ground this otherwise outlandish story.

I feel like you can’t review this film without talking about its music. According to Gyllenhaal, “it was hard to find the tone for the music in this movie, because it had to be both punk, really punk—not as a genre of music, but as a feeling—and romantic. Deeply romantic and emotional—it had to be all those things.” She went on to say regarding its blend of genres, ” It had to be a kind of a mix. This is a movie that is a mix, a blend, a weaving of a few different genres and tones in order to tell the story properly.” The score does just that. It’s a wild blend of punk and orchestral with things in between. It does a fantastic job of immersing the audience further into this wild ride.

Overall, I think The Bride! is an interesting and exciting take on a story we are fairly familiar with. Sure, the chaos and intentional messiness of the film won’t work for everyone, but it did for me. I can’t stop thinking about this movie and how much I loved it. I’m eager to revisit and see what details I missed because I’m sure there were plenty. We need more filmmakers to take risks like this. The Bride! is in theaters now! 

My Rating 5/5