The Blues Brothers once sang, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” and that is one of the themes of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride. Frankenstein, Christian Bale, is lonely. After being alive for almost a hundred years, he wants to experience something he has never had: Companionship. On the flip side, Ida/The Bride, Jessie Buckley, is a companion to members of a mob family. When the spirit of Mary Shelly takes over her body, yes, this sounds bizarre, but trust me, it works. 

A New Take on the Bride

After becoming possessed, Idastarts speaks in a way that not only offends the men around her but scares them. She instills fear in the men, prompting them to try to shut her up, which leads to a title card that is one of the best I have seen recently. 

Meeting with Dr. Euphronius, Annette Bening, Frankenstein convinces her to help him “reinvigorate” a mate for him. They dig up the body of Ida and resurrect her corpse. Alive, Ida has no memory of her previous life and does not want anything to do with Frank. As the two get to know each other more, Ida starts getting close to Frank as he tells her of their “past” together. Misunderstood by their looks and the Bride’s pontificating about the evil caused to women by men, they are attacked when leaving a club, and the results are disastrous. 

The film starts to pick up the pace as the two are on the run with detectives Jake Wiles, PeterSarsgaard, and Myrna Mallow, Penélope Cruz. The two are on a Bonnie and Clyde-type run across the country as they try to just be together. As the two evade the detectives, Frank continues to fill the Bride’s mind with stories of their past. There are moments when the Bride has glimpses of Ida’s past and makes her question what Frank tells her. The movie concludes with a third act that attempts to tie up the multiple storylines that unravel throughout the movie. 

Not Your Average Bride

The Bride takes some big swings and manages to get a hit from a few of them. Jessie Buckley is phenomenal as the possessed bride. She commands the screen when she goes off on her tangents and truly pierces through the screen. Bale’s Frankenstein takes a back seat in these scenes as he stares at her like a lost puppy. Frank’s loneliness is felt in various moments, but none more powerfully than when he meets a certain character.

The themes of loneliness, being misunderstood, and taking down the patriarchy are relevant and perfect for today’s world. The only issue is that it feels like a lot is thrown at the audience and might turn some viewers away. The messages might also be too much for some male viewers who are not used to seeing powerful female characters on the screen. The movie tells a great message, and it needs to be heard.

The side stories involving the detectives, the henchman looking for Ida/The Bride, and the uprising from the women feel truncated due to the shallow and not fully explored nature. Maybe there will be a director’s cut that will give us more of these moments. 

Final Thoughts: The Bride is a force of nature. Jessie Buckley owns the screen every time she is pontificating prose to the screen. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s direction is phenomenal, but it might turn away some people with its frenetic energy! Christian Bale’s Frankenstein shows a loneliness that tugs at the heart, but he also lets the ferocity.

Violence: The Bride has some intense violence. There are mature scenes along with violent images of killings, sexual assault, and language. I suggest parents use their discretion if their kids can see this.

Kid Friendly: As stated above, the movie is rated R. I will leave it to parents to decide if it is right for their kids.

A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!