The way Maggie Gyllenhaal twists the theme is intriguing and audacious; and Jessie Buckley is just brilliant!
(I bet that if Maggie was named Jake the trajectory of the film in the market would be quite different...)
#TheBride (2026)
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.
2/5โญ๏ธ
The Bride! A love story
The Bride! is now out on HBO Max for us home viewers. I loved it! I know a lot of fancy critics found fault with it, but I loved it. It's gross and dark and full of feminine rage. It's built around a clever plot with campy fun all the way. There are spoilers ahead. [โฆ]"The Bride" (2026) is Maggie Gyllenhaal's movie about the bride of Frankenstein's monster. The bride is played by Jessie Buckley, while Christian Bale is the monster, both amazing; the list of known actors is longer, including a husband and a brother of the director. The movie is a mix of comic-book and musical and gangster movies, and apparently, the mix didn't land well with many people. Might be a case of "mixed reviews first, cult following later," though.
Has all the pieces to be a great filmโbut isn't.
A โ โ โ review of The Bride! (2026)
A generous 3 stars and my very brief review:
https://boxd.it/esGnBH
My โ โ ยฝ review of The Bride! on @letterboxd: https://boxd.it/esSAGz

Itโs 1936 Chicago. A lonely 110 year old Frankenstein visits with Dr. Euphronious and tells her he has not experienced carnal pleasures or a relationship. They find her in Ida, a woman possessed by the ghost of Mary Shelley, who starts raving about Chicago Crime Boss Lupino and soon finds herself falling down a set of stairs to her death. After she is reanimated they go out and two men harass the couple leading Frank to kill them. So they go on the run. Thereโs a scene early on in the film where โFrankโ as he is called visits a