The Bride! Movie Review

The Bride! (2026)

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Written by: Maggie Gyllenhaal (written by), Mary Shelley (characters, uncredited)
Directed by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal
Rated: R
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Plot
In 1930s Chicago, Frankenstein asks Dr. Euphronius to help create a companion. They give life to a murdered woman as the Bride, sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change.

Verdict
It's a movie with several ideas that just needs focus. I was never sure what this movie was trying to do. Initially, it's about a man that's lonely. He finds a bride, and then they become some kind of Bonnie and Clyde send up. The movie charges every scene with a frenetic energy, but there's no direction or anything that holds these scenes together. I kept wondering, what does this want to do? What's the goal of each new idea? At one point this seems like it wants to explore a feminist revolution, but that like everything else in this movie isn't developed.
Skip it.

Review
Does this want to be Poor Things (2023), focusing on the misogyny of the time while adding a bit of Joker from Suicide Squad (2016)? It shares similarities, but I was never sure of this movie's goal.

The first scene introduces Mary Shelley (Jessie Buckley) and her novel Frankenstein. She died before she could tell the story she desired to release. Shelley ends up possessing Ida (Jessie Buckley), horrifying everyone else in the restaurant with her new accent as she spills secrets. It's certainly an introduction, strong in a way I wasn't sure what it would mean for the movie. If Shelley wants to possess someone to tell her story, it seems ill conceived to agitate powerful people and get beaten up. It's jarring, but I guess that's the point. I assumed Shelley wanted to write her next story, but the person she possesses becomes the story.

Jessie Buckley plays Ida / Penelope

Frankenstein, having named himself Frank (Christian Bale) after his father, beseeches Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to create a mate. He's lonely, having lived for over a century. The body the two unearth just happens to be the woman possessed by Shelley, Ida. It's quite the coincidence. The possession isn't constant, and you know when Ida is being possessed as she spouts rhyming words and caustic insults. To be revived and possessed; that's some bad luck.

Frank has a partner, but she's not quite what he expected. Her fits of possession are interesting, but what is this movie about and where is it going? The Frankenstein story focuses on considering people for more than how they appear, realizing that even someone that looks like a monster can be kind. This movie is a strange romp. It's a monster movie send up with a weird twist. Frankenstein is concerned about being discovered and the city realizing what he is and in turn trying to kill him. Ida, now calling herself Penelope, doesn't care. In a way she's freed by the bounds of society, but that doesn't seem like what the movie wants to explore.

Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley play Frank, Ida / Penelope

Frank just so happens to meet his acting hero, Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal). As unlikely as that is, this turns into a dance number replete with lighting and backup dancers. I don't know how, and I don't know what this is. This is about the bride's agency, but she also empowers Frank. He's been hiding since the beginning, but now he walks among others with a freedom. He introduced himself to Ronnie, something he wouldn't have done before Penelope.

Frank gets her name tattooed across his chest. It's almost like a Joker and Harley Quinn relationship. This has a lot of energy, but I don't think the movie has a destination. They're like a Bonnie and Clyde, having killed a cop and on the run. The movie tries to shock to conceal that this is an idea without elaboration. The bride also has a connection to detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) who is chasing her. It's contrived.

The bride's distinct look, the stain of silver on her face is being imitated. I don't know why. She killed a cop. If she had done something revolutionary at the time, like standing up for her rights, I could understand that. It isn't what happened, and I don't know why people are imitating her.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessie Buckley play Ronnie Reed, Ida / Penelope

We get this Romeo and Juliet conclusion where Jake's partner Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz) reveals she's a detective when she earlier stated she wasn't. Why the subterfuge? Just so she can get the cheesy line stating she is the detective near the end? What is the point of anything in this movie?

The feminist revolution idea had potential. That could have been powerful if Penelope had done something to warrant a revolution, other than shooting a cop. This is full of threads that end up meaning nothing. You could delete the connection to the detective and even the Shelley possession. It should have focused on how Penelope freed not only Frank from his social imprisonment but women treated as secondary citizens. Ultimately I don't know if the movie tried to do too much or just had no idea what ideas to develop.