Mary Shelley’s seminal work “Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus” is often hailed as the first science-fiction novel, and since its publication over 200 years ago, it has inspired countless adaptations.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” is the latest. Starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, “The Bride!” attempts to tell the Bride’s story with a feminist edge, but it doesn’t quite pull together.
The movie opens with Mary Shelley, played by Jessie Buckley, telling the audience that her life was cut short before she could finish the story of Frankenstein. To continue her story, Mary possesses the character Ida — a young woman living in 1930s Chicago tangled up with mob boss Lupino (Zlatko Burić).
Mary and Ida initially struggle for control of Ida’s body. When Mary’s in control, she rants in rhymes about the mob’s crimes. When under Ida’s control, she’s begging to understand what is happening to her.
Ida’s strange behavior as she and Mary struggle for control of her body makes the mobsters around her antsy. Fearing Ida will get them in trouble, two mobsters separate her from the group and kill her and dispose of her body.
Meanwhile, Christian Bale’s character Frankenstein— Frank for short— finds the mad scientist Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) and begs her to create for him a mate to end his loneliness.
Dr. Euphronius agrees, and the two dig up Ida’s body. The dreamlike, swirling visuals of her “reinvigoration” are similar to those of her death, emphasizing the transformation the Bride goes through.
When she revives, she remembers nothing of her life before. She doesn’t even remember her own name. All she knows is what Frank tells her: she was his bride, and her memory loss is due to a mysterious “accident.”
Frank takes her around the town. They see the Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal) movies that Frank is obsessed with; Reed’s characters live the life Frank longs for.
After killing men who attempt to assault the Bride at a club, she and Frank become fugitives. They are pursued by Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Saarsgard) and his ambitious secretary Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz).
In the film’s last act, the monstrous couple has a series of close calls with the authorities until Detective Wiles finally catches up with them, and all hell breaks loose.
Frank reveals his deception to the Bride, and while initially angry she remains sympathetic to the selfish loneliness that led to her painful existence. “I am a monster,” is his apology. “Yeah, so am I,” responds the Bride. Buckley’s delivery of the simple line is a heartbreaking admission to the Bride’s resignation.
Simultaneously, Detective Wiles reveals to Malloy that while Ida was alive, he coerced her to sleep with him in exchange for reopening the Lupino case that the corrupt police department closed. He tearfully tells Malloy that he has resigned on the condition that she is promoted to detective.
Though both are clearly angry at their partners, the Bride’s and Malloy’s quick forgiveness of the men subjugating them is confusing at best from a film that positions itself as presenting “radical social change.”
Both women do eventually become independent— Malloy as detective, the Bride finally giving herself a name and rejecting Frank’s marriage proposal— but they find it through the patriarchal system. Malloy only gets her position because a man gave it to her, and the Bride only exists because Frank insisted on her creation.
Regardless, the women are still powerful characters in their own right, and their intellects shine. Malloy does all the heavy lifting in the investigation, and the Bride’s dialogue is peppered with references to great authors such as Milton and Melville.
Another highlight of the film is a dazzling dance sequence at a high-profile party set to composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s big band arrangement of “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in a clever reference to Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” (1974).
It is not the only reference to the icons of Frankenstein media in the film; Jessie Buckley’s dual role as Mary and the Bride is an homage to James Whale’s “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) in which Elsa Lanchester played both characters.
In Whale’s film, Mary also says she has more of the story of Frankenstein to tell. The difference between Whales’s version and Gyllenhaal’s is that “Bride of Frankenstein” focuses on Frankenstein and his monster, while “The Bride!” keeps the titular character center stage.
Feminist imagery is front and center in “The Bride!” The camera lingers on young women’s wistful expressions as they watch the monsters run away after punishing abusive men. Details like these can make the audience think something will change — perhaps the heroines will free themselves from their oppressors.
The plot deceives and disappoints. Violence towards men is evident throughout the film: the copy-cat murders of women inspired by the Bride, the Bride herself killing a police officer and finally biting a man’s tongue out of his mouth.
However, the itch of the two male characters with the largest roles getting retribution for their wrongs against their female counterparts is never scratched.
Gyllenhaal’s film is visually rich, the dialogue is sharp and the performances are stellar. Buckley’s dual role as Mary Shelley and the Bride is masterful, a balancing act between Shelley’s quick-wit and Ida/the Bride’s fear and disorientation. Goðnadóttir’s score is spellbinding— even Jake Gyllenhaal’s 1930s singing and dancing impresses.
“The dead have got something to say,” says the Bride. Dead women have something to say to the men who killed and abused them. Unfortunately, the voices of the women get watered down by the monstrous yet hopeful love story at the same time.While undeniably entertaining and creepy, “The Bride!” is something of a Frankenstein’s monster itself— promising though disjointed pieces which create a sort of misshapen and disappointing whole for those looking for a movie with something to say.