The Bride! Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal Stitched Together The Most Fun, Feral And Fantastic Frankenstein Movie Yet

Alongside such literary icons as Sherlock Holmes, Hamlet, and James Bond, one of the most oft-adapted characters for live-action (and otherwise) is the anatomical monstrosity simply known as Frankenstein’s monster. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel has proven to be a seemingly unstoppable inspiration over the last 116 years, starting in the silent era with J. Searle Dawley’s Frankenstein, with James Whale’s 1931 adaptation and its 1935 sequel Bride of Frankenstein viewed as the true classic iterations. But only because 1930s audiences didn’t get to meet Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride.

If they had, they likely wouldn’t have known how to handle themselves around the whirlwind of Jessie Buckley’s constantly in-motion character, who adopts several different personas throughout the movie. She’s a gangster moll, a supernatural totem to feminism, and an extension of our current understanding of Mary Shelley’s radical (for the time) philosophies and motivations. She’s never only any one of these things, but rather an all-encompassing force to be reckoned with by those who adore her, fear her and wish her dead.

No one feels more strongly about the Bride than Christian Bale’s creature, who has lived a covered-up existence on the fringes of society, with the pangs of loneliness becoming increasingly louder with time. To seek his ultimate mate, he visits Annette Bening’s Dr. Euphronious, a more empathetic and level-headed “mad” scientist in place of Ernest Thesiger’s more clearly antagonistic Dr. Pretorius from The Bride of Frankenstein. Everyone gets far more than they bargained for (audiences included) when this resurrected coupling tears loose.

Maggie Gyllenhaal had more to bring to the screen than just a monster movie remake, and it’s impossible to nail down exactly what the finished product is. “A darkly hilarious true crime monster movie” comes close, but isn’t quite enough. Maybe it’s best to just say The Bride! is a motherf--king masterpiece.

The Bride! pays loving tribute to a wide array of Frankenstein-centric fiction.

While not a direct take on the Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester-starring The Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride! does draw from certain story beats and themes, including the initial conceit of Mary Shelley herself being the character who kicks the narrative off (also played by Buckley). Instead of narrating objectively from the background, Shelley instead injects her raging spirit into the body of the somewhat able, and mostly non-willing host Ida. She goes so far as to use the term "possession," and it's an apt one.

The Bride! is not beholden to its two most obvious pieces of source material , however, and it almost surreally incorporates an inspired assortment of nods to the Monster's pop culture impact as a whole. Without being so exhaustive as a spoof movie in that respect, Gyllenhaal still weaves a surprising number of on-the-busted-nose references into some of this film’s most vital scenes, and such moments left me downright giddy. It’s like when modern Batman stories make sure the infamous Shark Repellant used by Adam West’s Caped Crusade is featured in the background somewhere.

From more obvious projects like Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein to more cult-level films like Frankenhooker, this movie celebrates them all. Was I disappointed to not see anyone eating Frankenberry cereal at a breakfast table? Certainly – though I’m willing to concede that it happened when I wasn’t looking. The love for this universe’s lore carries on right into the credits’ familiar ditty.

Christian Bale is a surprisingly charming and sympathetic monster, but this is Jessie Buckley’s movie from the first minute to the last.

As both Patrick Bateman and Batman — him again? — Christian Bale exuded the same amount of ego through two very different prisms, and his performance in The Bride! comes from the opposite end of that self-confidence spectrum, albeit with similar inclinations to use violence as a means to an end. He is the Monster, after all, so all he's ever been seen as is a freakish outsider when he's not fleeing torch-wielding mobs.

All he's really looking for is a friend to share his interests, the biggest of which is a long-gestating obsession with the singing-and-dancing Hollywood megastar Ronnie Reed, as portrayed by a most debonaire Jake Gyllenhaal. Reed's movies are the buoy that stops Frank from hitting rock bottom, both emotionally and physically, and there's a natural desire to see him get what he wants, even knowing that it will result in a wave of murderous mayhem. Despite so many past iterations out there, Bale's Frank is a beast all his own, inspiring laughter, longing and horror in equal doses.

But let's not beat around the bush(y hair) here. Jessie Buckley could have been acting opposite babies and tennis balls on strings, or opposite the greatest actors of the past 116 years, and The Bride! would still be her movie through and through. As Mary Shelley, the actress is cynical, patronizing and proud, strengthened in those scenes by Maggie Gyllenhaal's black-and-white camerawork, which utilizes shadowy filmmaking tricks from horror cinema's earliest days.

As Ida, both before and after her death and resurrection, Buckley bounces from charismatic to vulnerable with an almost childlike temperament. It's in part due to her loss of memory, which Frank is happy to replace with his manufactured version of their relationship details. I'll let you guess how well that goes in the long run.

The best of all worlds comes when Mary's vindictive spirit takes over Ida's broken brain, causing her to sporadically rattle off at the mouth with rhyming streams of consciousness as one accent morphs into another from across the pond. All the awards buzz that Buckley has earned for Hamnet will not fade away once The Bride! has been awakened.

Ida’s kinetic journey veers down a trail of brutal and influential justice across the country, Bonnie Parker-style.

Not that this movie solely hinges on just those two characters' multi-leveled performances. Once The Bride! brings Frank and Ida together (with Mary), the story shifts in part from creature feature to crime spree thriller. Ida's unlawful connections to Chicago mobster Lupino, which lead to her corporeal conclusion, return to haunt her after Dr. Euphronious brings her back, resulting in a shocking act of violence that cements their fate as fugitives and sets up a dangerous precedent for the rest of the movie.

Enter Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard), whose partner Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz) is more adept in every way, despite not being given the proper consideration for earning the badge. The amount of times she has to defensively stand up for herself amidst seas of male cops would be comical if it wasn't 100% drawn from reality. In that way, Myrna's journey works in conjunction with Ida's, as she and Wiles both have reasons to not pursue the pair of monstrous murderers making national headlines.

Frank and Ida easily share space with Natural Born Killers' Mickey and Mallory as sensational cults of personality whose anti-establishment views are embraced by others regardless of their more malicious actions. Perhaps the more pointed comparison would involve the aforementioned film's own inspiration, real-life criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, though The Bride! very pointedly makes sure to ground the public influence in Ida's "I am woman, hear me roar" vibes as opposed to glorifying murders.

Really, everything about this movie works for me. Buckley's hair and black-stained makeup are instantly iconic. The choreography and dance numbers are energetic and never out of place. The way Frank's love of the movies becomes a visual storytelling element is bizarre and magical. Cruz and Sarsgaard are magnetic enough to lead their own two-hander spinoff. (Possibly chasing an invisible man...?)

From the first second to the last, however, the biggest share of the accolades have to go to Maggie Gyllenhaal. From bringing the Riot Grrrl energy to showcasing the unflinching violence to spinning a remotely plausible love story with these two misbegotten souls, the filmmaker pulls off a tour de force with her second feature that won't easily be replicated.

Through all my praise, I know The Bride! isn't for everyone. And to those who speak the loudest against it: watch out for splinters while holding those torches and pitchforks all day long.