From the moment the film starts, writer and director Maggie Gyllenhaal already lets us know that The Bride! is going to be an unhinged, out-of-the-box movie experience. The prologue, shot in black and white, has Jessie Buckley as Mary Shelley, speaking to us like a spectre, fully aware of her legacy as the creator and writer of Frankenstein and how she would want to continue this story.
This dense, articulate monologue, amplified by stylized language allows us to get a sense of Mary Shelley as a person. This is important as Shelley then possesses the body of Ida (also played by Buckley), a woman in 1930s Chicago (the film now shifts to color) with connections to the mob.
With Shelley inside her, she goes on a verbal rampage that leads to ruffling a mobster’s feathers. She is then killed.
Frankenstein’s Monster (Christian Bale), who is later called Frank, visits Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) because she is a leading scientist in “invigoration,” or bringing people back to life using the techniques that Dr. Frankenstein employed a hundred years ago.
Frank is lonely, and he convinces Dr. Euphronious to reanimate the body of Ida.
When she is revived, Ida’s mind is fuzzy and weak, making it easier for Mary Shelley to take control. Frank is smitten with her, and with Shelley mostly in control of Ida’s reanimated body, she causes havoc and chaos wherever she goes. As Shelley, having been in the afterlife, knows things, she calls out men’s behaviour while acting freely and loosely in public.
At a club, she is attacked by three men, whom Frank kills to protect her. Their monstrous appearance leads the press to call them “The Monster Killers,” and Frank and Ida/Mary Shelley make a run for it, causing chaos, creating a movement that empowers women to fight back, while being chased by police detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his secretary Myrna Mallow (Penelope Cruz), who is actually a brilliant detective herself.
I use the word “unhinged” when I talk about this movie, and I mean it in the best way possible. Maggie Gyllenhaal, along with cinematographer Lawrence Sher and production designer Karen Murphy, turns 1930s Chicago into a gothic, punk fever dream that sometimes leans into a nightmare. Gyllenhaal is not afraid to get gross, gruesome, and brutal.
The performances are all heavily stylized – Penelope Cruz delivers a magnificent 1930s pulp-fiction persona – and Christian Bale is incredible at tempering Frank’s soft, and vulnerable side with moments of tempestuous fury.
Annette Bening shows off her talents, creating a woman and scientist who seems more interested in the science than the people involved, until something inside her stirs. Her reactions to the amazing, impossible things she witnesses feel spontaneous and grounded.
But the true star here is Jessie Buckley. As Mary Shelley, she is an overwhelming persona, erupting with an explosive vocabulary that she flings like weapons in every scene. When she shifts to Ida, she is caught in a hazy mental fog that denies her full autonomy over her body and senses.
Buckley shifts between these two characters with remarkable ease, and the effect onscreen is mesmerizing. Honestly, if she doesn’t win the Academy Award for her role in Hamnet she could easily win it for her role in The Bride!.
What’s deceptive about this film is how it feels focused on the story, allowing the film to go everywhere – Frank’s obsession with a Hollywood musical star (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), the mobster (Zlatko Buric) chasing after Ida to finish her off, and the surprising connection Ida has with Jake – even providing a spectacular dance number that pays tribute to the 1974 comedy film Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks.
The number evolves into a madcap performance that makes no real sense but is entirely welcomed into this fray. Meanwhile, on the periphery, a story about women galvanized to fight back against the oppression of men lingers on the outskirts of the narrative. There’s genuine anger here and frustration, and Buckley’s Ida/Mary Shelley becomes the metaphor for this, with her unintended reactions to what is happening to her manifesting in the social change that is happening out in the boundaries of this story’s reality. It also makes sense that Dr. Euphronious is also complicit in the domination and control of women’s bodies, since there are some women who do end up serving the patriarchy as well.
This anger and frustration are wrapped in a gorgeously imagined film that is unafraid to be self-aware, off-kilter, brutal and grotesque, and irreverent. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s sophomore effort is a powerful statement, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Don’t miss The Bride! in theaters now. Witness Jessie Buckley’s mesmerizing performance, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s daring vision, and a story that’s as wild as it is unforgettable. Check showtimes and experience the chaos and brilliance on the big screen!
