The Bride of Frankenstein has been a staple in film history for years but as Maggie Gyllenhaal has said, she wasn’t really had a lot to say. In fact, she had zero lines. But you probably instantly thought about the Bride when I mentioned her, right? That’s why The Bride! is such a necessary take.
Gyllenhaal’s punk rock take on the Creature’s Bride puts Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley in her very stylish orange boots. The Bride! isn’t just another adaptation meant to shock audiences but add nothing to the conversation. Instead, Gyllenhaal manages to mix in nods to Mary Shelley herself that really makes this adaptation more than just another vision of Frankenstein.
Frank (Christian Bale) has taken on the name of his maker. And this take on the Creature wants one thing and one thing only: Someone to share his life with. Much like Guillermo del Toro’s take on the Creature with Jacob Elordi, loneliness consumes Frank and he wants nothing more than to find someone to have. So he goes to Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to try and convince her to help him.
It works out in Frank’s favor that Ida (Jessie Buckley) has recently died and becomes his beautiful bride to me. A lot of the film relies on Ida’s lack of memory to build her relationship with Frank but it all builds to a beautiful love story between the two that we haven’t seen in the past.
Ida becomes Penelope who is the Bride and the two take over the world through their love (more so Frank’s than his Bride’s) of movies. But their pasts are threatening to catch up with them all as Ida is constantly visited by the ghost of stories past (or more specifically, Mary Shelley).
Incredible performances from Buckley and Bale
Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! requires a level of care to the characters presented to us, especially with Frank and Penelope. The two could have easily teetered into playing up the “crazy” just to do it. But both Buckley and Bale poured their hearts into the relationship between these two characters and it shows in how they each function throughout The Bride!.
Frank has been so lonely and wants to find love so desperately that he is willing to be whatever Penelope needs him to be. If she needs support, he’s there. If she needs inspiration, he’ll find it for her. And the kind of lovesick performance that Bale gives as Frank makes this take on the Creature such a fascinating one to watch.
But it really is Buckley’s film. The moments where the Bride completely loses herself flow so beautifully because of Buckley’s performance and it makes the wild ride of Frank and his Bride so captivating.
Punk rock love is the best kind
Gyllenhaal uses the brashness of Frank and Penelope’s world to create a beautiful love story to storytelling in all its many forms. Frank’s love of a movie star (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) colors most of the film but with cuts to Buckley as Shelley and the art of adaptation present throughout the film, it all breathes new life into the concept of Frankenstein’s Bride.
But above all else, The Bride! is about female rage and unapologetically so. Penelope is chaos and Frank is happily at her side, making sure she has his support when she needs it. Their love and dedication to each other gives us a slice of the romance between them. And what really works is that the Bride does get to speak for herself this time around.
In a lot of ways, this is what all adaptations should be. It is brash, fun, and an exciting spin on such an iconic character in the world of film. Gyllenhaal allows the chaos of their love lead the charge in The Bride! and it makes for an exciting and thrilling time at the theaters. Plus you’ll want to start throwing black goo on your face because it does look cool.
The Bride! is in theaters on March 6.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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