There are no shortage of cinematic takes on Mary Shelley's Gothic sci-fi opus Frankenstein out there — from James Whale's 1931 classic, to Kenneth Branagh's ostentatiously named Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, to Guillermo del Toro's imminently dropping, long gestating Netflix movie. Far fewer in number are the films focused on the Creature's bride. With her emphatically titled The Bride! however, actor-turned-director Maggie Gyllenhaal is changing that, taking a leaf out of The Bride Of Frankenstein and Poor Things' books — and, seemingly, Bonnie & Clyde — to offer up a radical new take on movies' most (in)famous wife. For a Christian Bale Frankenstein and Jessie Buckley bride gadding about in 30s Chicago, check out the newly dropped The Bride! trailer below;
Well, well, well, we're not entirely sure what exactly we just witnessed, but one thing's for sure: SHE'S ALIVEEE! This sure ain't your grandma's Elsa Lanchester Bride of Frankenstein folks, no sirree. Rather, based on this first proper look at Gyllenhaal's follow-up to the decidedly less wild The Lost Daughter, it appears that here we've got a real lovers-on-the-lam tale of outlawed outcasts on the run ahead of us, with Bale's Frankenstein (yes, in The Bride!, the monster carries his maker's name — don't come for us) and Buckley's as-yet-nameless bride igniting a potentially deadly romance as they discover their (in)humanity.
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Here's the official synopsis for the movie, whose impressive ensemble elsewhere includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Annette Bening, Peter Sarsgaard, and Penélope Cruz: "A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!"
Will The Bride! prove to be the next Poor Things? Will it wind up simply being a poor thing? And is it too soon to problematically assert that we hope these crazy cadaverous kids make it? Honestly, we haven't the foggiest. But if the trailer's anything to go by, then we will be seated when The Bride! hits cinemas on 6 March, 2026.