What if Bonnie and Clyde met Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride? That violent, passionate run-in would perhaps lead to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s next film, starring Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley.
Much like Victor Frankenstein’s lab room tinkering, Professor Maggie injects doses of Mary Shelley’s Gothic classic and James Whale’s campily brilliant sequel Bride of Frankenstein in an original treatment that brims with dark romance, cop-car chases, existential dread, saturated colours, desaturated makeup, and even some song-and-dance numbers.
With Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating adaptation of Frankenstein hitting Netflix in November, The Bride! continues the party of the scientifically resurrected until next year.
What is The Bride! about?
While the original Bride of Frankenstein served as a direct sequel to 1931’s Frankenstein, The Bride! starts off as a standalone story with hardly any involvement from Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein, of course, is the scientist’s, not the monster’s name).
Trading 18th century Britain for 1930s-era Chicago, The Bride! starts off with an unnamed woman’s demise as she rolls down a staircase in a pool of blood. Then enters her unconventional saviour, a scarred monster who wears stitched skin for a face. The Monster brings her back to life with sparkling wires, vials of blood, all the bells and whistles.
Our disfigured lovebirds go on to run away from the authorities and drunken pub-crawlers, testing their love and monstrosity to the limits.
The titular Bride resembles Emma Stone’s resurrected heroine from Poor Things in her naivety and loss of memory. Will she discover the truth behind her past life or continue running away with her stiff-shouldered giant of a lover?
Who stars in the movie?
Jessie Buckley leads the ensemble as the reanimated heroine, sporting a curly grey-white perm and dark ink blots on her face. This promises to be another riveting performance by Buckley who also starred in Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, psychological drama The Lost Daughter.
Buckley’s musical theatre background and psychologically complex characters make her a perfect successor to Elsa Lanchester’s electrifying turn as the Bride in 1935.
Meanwhile, Christian Bale steps in Boris Karloff’s gargantuan shoes. The Dark Knight and American Psycho actor is used to undergoing intense physical transformations. This time, the Oscar-winner will be kitted out in an array of staples, scars, and tattoos to become the Monster.
Jessie Buckley is the perfect successor to Elsa Lanchester in the 1935 movie
Other cast members include Gyllenhaal’s husband Peter Sarsgaard playing a detective on the couple’s trail, and five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening as the scientist experimenting on the Bride.
The director’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler) also appears in an undisclosed role, along with Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers, Vanilla Sky) and John Magaro (Past Lives, September 5).
With The Bride! reported to feature some musical numbers, it’s interesting to see two-time Dancing with the Stars champ Julianne Hough also in the cast.
When is The Bride! released?
Initially slated to be a Netflix release, the 2023 Writers’ Guild Strike and clashes over budget lead the streamer to prioritise Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein instead. Now, Gyllenhaal has the backing of Universal Pictures and has a US theatrical release earmarked for March 6, 2026. Global release dates are yet to be announced.
Is there a trailer?
The first teaser trailer was released on September 23, offering a chaotic and swanky world rooted in cluttered labs, dug-out graves, and narrow alleyways. The film might not be out yet but The Bride!’s teaser offers some spooky Halloween costume ideas for this October.
Do I need to binge-watch other Frankenstein movies for The Bride?
Not really. The Bride! plays out as a standalone reimagining of past Frankenstein adaptations. But watching the original Boris Karloff movies or even reading the book can help you in catching some Easter eggs in the film.
Find out where the 1931 Frankenstein lands on our list of the 100 greatest horror movies.
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