The bride! Is a 2026 horror comedy film from Maggie Gyllenhaal starring Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening and Penelope Cruz.
The film tells the story of a young woman, Ida, who is possessed by the spirit of a very caustic Mary Shelly (also played by Jessie Buckley) who meets an untimely end before being resurrected by Dr Euphronius (Annette Bening) when Frank, the monster, (Christian Bale) comes to her wanting her to make him a companion.
Frank and the Bride/Ida, who has lost her memory upon resurrection, set off across 1930s America following showings of films from Franks favourite actor with detectives following them state to state as part of a murder investigation.
At the start of the film, the spiritual manifestation of Mary Shelly proclaims that this is the story that she actually wanted to tell, this is her new story but this is definitely not a sequel to del Toros Frankenstein and if I was to compare it to anything it would be good hearted Bonnie and Clyde/Natural Born Killers mixed with the sensibilities of Young Frankenstein.
The film is completely manic and even in its more sincere emotional moments plays to its humour. There is even a surreal scene where Frank and Ida perform Putting on the Ritz that could easily be mistaken for something written by Mel Brooks if it wasn’t for the ending of the scene.
The film does play to its humour but does have poignant moments of tenderness between the characters as they just want to be accepted and live their lives in peace.
The film also has a lot of commentary on misogyny and sexism with Ida being subject to both physical and sexual abuse and being treated as disposable both before and after resurrection.
There is also a subplot of a female detective (Cruz) who despite her skill, struggles to be taken seriously and is often introduced as her partners secretary.
This is a film that really shouldn’t work and in many ways doesn’t but it doesn’t matter. The Bride! is a manic film that is really disjointed and seems rather haphazard but it is also really good fun and a film that kept me engaged all the way through and despite the sadder moments still put a big smile on my face.
Overall 5/5 -Here comes the mother f*%#ing bride
