The Bride! (2025) Dir Maggie Gyllenhaal, Warner Bros. Pictures ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by Matthew Alicoon

The Bride! (2025)

Dir Maggie Gyllenhaal

Warner Bros. Pictures

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by Matthew Alicoon

 Running Time: 126 Minutes

“The Bride is a voice that refuses to be silenced.”

Drawing inspiration from 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein which was based off the famous Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, The Bride! follows Frankenstein (Christian Bale) as he asks Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to help create a partner for himself. They give life to a murdered woman known as The Bride (Jessie Buckley).

Once again, this may place me firmly in the minority. The mixed reception for The Bride! is understandable, particularly with how jarring the tonal shifts and narrative modes are. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film frequently pivots between different types of storytelling realms with little warning, that can feel very disorienting. However, this is precisely why the film has lingered in my mind so prominently. The film feels like an amalgamation of the crime-centric romanticism of Bonnie and Clyde, the grotesque romanticism of Poor Things and the fractured love in Joker: Folie à Deux. For audiences drawn to films that feel less like studio projects and more truly original passion projects, I was absolutely floored by The Bride.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s creative flair feels distinctly auteur-driven, where her screenplay has so much to stay on a wide array of themes. At its core, the film interrogates the victimisation and glorification of outsiders, particularly women, and the uneasy fascination society holds for how it marginalises certain individuals. Behind the surface is a surprisingly tender love story, echoing the melancholic and humanistic nature found in Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein.   The performances are magnificent here. Christian Bale brilliantly epitomises the aching solitude of who Frankenstein is with remarkable restraint, at times the film feels more like a meditation on his loneliness rather than a monster story. Jessie Buckley’s gravitas is extraordinary here with how many characters she plays. Buckley gets to showcase how marvellous her shifting accents and physical transformations are, which add a theatrical dynamism to the characters. The film’s unexpected voiceover device feels like an absolute wild card that introduces a self-aware, meta-textual layer to the narrative. It is an audacious narrative gamble, but it further enhances the tragic backstory of The Bride. 

Visually, the film is striking. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher, whose work on Joker established a similarly expressionistic urban atmosphere, crafts a stunningly textured depiction of 1930s New York and Chicago. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score provides a magnetic emotional undercurrent, weaving melancholic and spectacle infused music into the film’s shifting tones. For some audiences, the film’s tonal leaps may feel erratic, but there is something admirable in the confidence with which Maggie Gyllenhaal embraces them. Ultimately, The Bride becomes a reflection on the persecution of those deemed different, expanding the Frankenstein mythos into something with more resonance. Buckley’s ability to embody multiple facets of the character only enriches this idea. The film is the work of a filmmaker pursuing a distinctive vision rather than a safe interpretation of familiar material.

The film’s more extravagant tonal detours — including a dazzling dance sequence to “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, initially appear startling yet they begin to reveal their purpose as the narrative unfolds. By the time the film reaches its final act, it culminates with a quietly devastating final image. The Bride! ultimately leaves behind a masterfully articulated commentary on how society constructs and disregards its outsiders. Jessie Buckley’s performance alone feels revelatory, Oscar-worthy dare I say it. This is a film that almost demands a second viewing, if only to fully appreciate the complexity of the vision behind it.

On a second viewing, The bride reveals a far greater sense of narrative cohesion with the tonal shifts feeling deliberately expressive of its themes. The use of the voiceover emerges as a particularly weighted device, reframing the narrative as a portrayal of female authority and ownership. Therefore, the commentary on identity, visibility and societal rejection is enriched. What initially appears to be chaotic, I would reconsider to be quite purposeful, as The Bride is a voice that refuses to be silenced.

Cast

Jessie Buckley -          Ida "The Bride

Christian Bale -           Frank

Peter Sarsgaard -       Jake Wiles

Annette Bening -         Dr. Cornelia Euphronious

Jake Gyllenhaal –       Ronnie Reed

Penélope Cruz –         Myrna Malloy

John Magaro –            Clyde

Crew

Director –                    Maggie Gyllenhaal

Screenwriter-              Maggie Gyllenhaal

Producers -                 Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Tillinger Koskoff. Talia Kleinhendler, Osnat Handelsman-Keren

Cinematographer-       Lawrence Sher

Editor –                       Dylan Tichenor

Music –                       Hildur Guðnadóttir