It’s been 91 years since The Bride of Frankenstein premiered, and what followed has been endless reimaginings based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter) has her own take and tells a new tale of defiance, rebellion, loneliness, and love in The Bride.
Set in 1930s Chicago, The Bride begins with Ida (Jessie Buckley), a young woman caught up in something bad. We don’t know exactly what it is yet, but it ends with her dead at the bottom of a staircase. Meanwhile, Frank (Christian Bale) travels to Chicago to beg a genius scientist, Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening), to make him a companion, because if anyone could do it, it’s her. Luckily for them, a fresh body was just buried.
In James Whale’s Frankenstein follow-up, the Bride (Elsa Lanchester) awakens and shrieks for a limited amount of screentime, until she dies again. Gyllenhaal makes her the protagonist, obviously, and shows us a glimpse into her life pre-Bride.
If you’ve seen the 1935 film or any version of the Bride’s story, there are familiar story beats. However, sometimes they appear in ways one wouldn’t expect. As in most retellings, it’s not love at first sight for the newly reborn Bride. In Gyllenhaal’s film, Frank gets a chance to woo her. It may be a rocky start, but she comes to embrace her “reinvigoration” and uses her new life to call out what’s wrong with the world.
Their mutual madness and penchant for public chaos earn them a Bonnie and Clyde (or Frankie and Bride?) reputation. As bodies pile up in their wake, Det. Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his inquisitive assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz), begin tracking the monstrous lovers running from the law.
The Bride has a stacked cast of phenomenal actors who deliver exceptional performances. Jessie Buckley manages to switch personalities and accents in a way that feels like playing multiple characters in one body, which she is. Her outbursts, both alive and undead, will be grating to some. But Buckley is such a livewire that everything she does is fascinating and completely captivating, and the same goes for her co-star.
Bale’s Frank has to be one of the most sympathetic versions of the character. Some of the dialogue can be hard to understand, given accents and emotional line delivery, but it didn’t take away my enjoyment. Honestly, I can’t wait to watch it with subtitles.
I can’t get into everything I loved about this film without major spoilers, so I’ll just say, prepare yourself for literal jaw drops and flowing tears. This is not entertaining in a “turn your brain off” way; it forces you to engage and react to every violent, emotional, or darkly humorous moment. And the sound effects…wow. I felt Ida’s bone-breaking tumble down those stairs.
The punk-rock vibes of the trailers are extended and amplified in the film. The music is a blend of genres, as is the tone. It’s deep, it’s gothic, and more than anything else, it’s punk. Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) haunting score perfectly complements the horrors playing out on screen, as well as the edginess.
Since the first teaser came out, people have compared the film to Joker: Folie à Deux, or at least, what they think it should have been. Ironically, many professionals behind the scenes of The Bride also worked on Folie à Deux and its 2019 predecessor, including DP Lawrence Sher and his sharp cinematography. Fantasy sequences give us a look into their jumbled minds, especially Frank, and Sher’s camera work immerses us in their theatrical dreams.
Between Nadia Stacey’s (Cruella) make-up and Kay Georgiou’s (Joker: Folie à Deux) hairstyling, the Bride looks incredible. Instead of the iconic black hair with two white streaks, Buckley’s platinum blonde Bride rocks a short, wavy ‘do sans streaks. But the hair, in addition to the inky black matter coating her tongue, lips, and a splatter on her face, is iconic in its own right.
Costume designer Sandy Powell (The Favourite, Shutter Island) didn’t craft a white frock similar to the original. Instead, she gave the Bride an orange silk dress, stockings, and boots. I anticipate there will be a lot of Brides this Halloween (and I might be one of them).
The Bride is a wild, fantastical take on a horror icon, a true Gothic romance full of intense love and painful tragedy. Through the character of Ida/the Bride and the Gothic aesthetic, Gyllenhaal honors the late mother of horror, Mary Shelley, in a unique way that immediately captures your attention. Its bold inventiveness will likely divide audiences, making it a ‘love it or hate it’ kind of movie. But for genre fans, or anyone looking for a daring film, The Bride is a must-see.
The Bride is currently playing in theaters.
