New 'Frankenstein' Film Premieres

This is Maggie Gyllenhaal's second feature film as writer and director, following her 2021 debut, *The Lost Daughter*. *The Bride!* draws inspiration from James Whale's 1935 classic *Bride of Frankenstein*, a film Gyllenhaal felt left the title character's story untold, as she only appears for a few minutes and has no lines. The story is set in 1930s Chicago, where Frankenstein's monster, Frank (Christian Bale), enlists a scientist, Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), to create a companion for him. They reanimate a murdered woman named Ida (Jessie Buckley), who is reborn as the Bride, sparking a romance and a radical social movement. The film reimagines the monster and his bride as a sort of "Bonnie and Clyde" duo on a violent spree, pursued by a detective played by Peter Sarsgaard (Gyllenhaal's husband). The extensive cast also includes Penélope Cruz as a fellow detective and Jake Gyllenhaal (the director's brother) as a popular actor the monster idolizes. To achieve the monster's look, Christian Bale reportedly spent six hours in prosthetic makeup daily. The film was shot entirely with IMAX-certified digital cameras by cinematographer Lawrence Sher and has a budget of approximately $80-90 million. Initial critical response to the film has been mixed. Reviewers have called Jessie Buckley's performance "electrifying," while describing the film itself as everything from a "hot mess" and "crushing disappointment" to a "maniacal assemblage" of genres. *The Bride!* joins a recent resurgence of Frankenstein-inspired stories. This includes Guillermo del Toro's *Frankenstein* starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, which premiered in 2025 to positive reviews.