The Bride!

Frankenstein’s monster gets a companion: that didn’t end well in the Mary Shelley novel, or 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein. But, thanks to writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, the Bride is given a voice – in fact, it’s more of a roar. Played fearlessly by Jessie Buckley, this Bride is very much alive.

In a contrast to her indie debut The Lost Daughter, Gyllenhaal stitches together many genres: from B-movies and crime thrillers to musicals. An eerie black and white opening sees Buckley play Mary Shelley, suspended in an afterlife but somehow able to connect her consciousness to that of a young living human. She is Ida (also Buckley), a smart but stifled working girl in 1930s Chicago. Ida suddenly begins spouting painful truths in a Mob-run restaurant. Her outbursts are lewd and articulate as she becomes apparently possessed by the spirit of Shelley.

Silenced, Ida’s body is stolen and revived by Dr Euphronius (Annette Bening), who’s been persuaded to create a mate for Frank (Christian Bale) – named after his creator, Dr Frankenstein. Confused and amnesic, ‘the Bride’ is full of spirit and rage: she hits the town with Frank and a trail of killings follow. 

That the initial death is sparked by a sexual assault links this to the feminist buddy caper Thelma & Louise. The Bride! also has echoes of Bonnie & Clyde and Poor Things as the pair flee across the US, pursued by a detective (Peter Sarsgaard) and his underestimated colleague (Penélope Cruz). More classic cinema is referenced when Frank watches his favourite matinee idol (Jake Gyllenhaal).

There’s a lot going on here: you never quite know what Maggie Gyllenhaal is going to throw into the pot next, but it’s always visually exciting and often funny. Bale is terrific as the outcast, lovestruck Frank: devoted, but lying through his tombstone teeth. This is no simple love story, and the Bride is no simple woman – or indeed, women. 

Buckley is brilliantly unhinged as the white-haired, ink-stained Bride

Buckley is brilliantly unhinged as the white-haired, ink-stained Bride, whose dialogue switches from Ida’s Chicago drawl to Shelley’s cut-glass literate wit – imagine Helena Bonham-Carter playing Harley Quinn, and then some. She may be possessed, but no man is going to possess her, and her gun-toting rants highlight the misogyny and abuse around her. 

Much like her peers Greta Gerwig and Emerald Fennell, Gyllenhaal has brought thought-provoking feminist concepts into a big-budget, accessible, genre-blending movie. In a perfectly meta moment, the credits roll to the tune of The Monster Mash. Here’s to a (graveyard) smash.

In cinemas worldwide Fri Mar 6.