Wednesday, March 11, 2026
The Bride!
This is director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s bold reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein story. Dr. Frankenstein’s original monster aka “Frank” (Christian Bale) has survived over 100 years of loneliness & finds himself in 1936 Chicago seeking out Dr. Cornelia Euphronius (Annette Benning) to create a companion for himself. They dig up the body of a recent victim (Jessie Buckley) of a crime lord’s wrath. This revived corpse has no memory of her past & Frank tells her she is his “Bride”. As Frank & the Bride try to quietly in disguise blend into society, trouble & dead bodies seem to follow them. Soon detectives & the police are on their trail. This is a genre bending dark comedy horror show with a noir detective feel spiced up with some punk rock vibes. It’s visually stunning. Bale & Buckley give amazing performances. If you are a Universal monster movie fan, you maybe disappointed or surprised by this interpretation. The setting & time period has changed. There is a unique artistic blend of new & old which might be disturbing to some. If you are a big movie fan, you may be impressed by some of the movie flourishes. It’s Mary Shelley’s creations running amuck like Bonnie & Clyde in 1930’s America with musical show tunes & choreography. It’s unconventional, but works for me.
Alien gives it 3 “the monster mash… it was a graveyard smash” stars out of 4.
