The Bride Review

Some will compare The Bride! to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Perhaps a more accurate comparison would be to Joker: Folie à Deux. That could be construed as a good thing and a bad one. For all of its faults, you could sense a good movie in Folie à Deux trying to get out. Between its Bonnie and Clyde-esque romance and musical numbers harkening back to cinema’s golden age, The Bride! has many of the same elements. They come closer to working here, with the chemistry between the leads lighting up the screen. At the same time, The Bride! isn’t without the tonal and thematic inconsistencies that prevented Folie à Deux from entirely working. What holds this film together is an unpredictable lead performance from Jessie Buckley, who reminds us why she’s one of the most exciting actresses alive.

The word “transformative” gets tossed around a lot, but that’s the only way to describe seeing Buckley go from Agnes Shakespeare to Ida, a prohibition-era woman who was always destined to die young. Ida ends up six feet under, only to be dug up by Annette Bening as Dr. Euphronious and Christian Bale as a monster called Frank. Apparently, he adopted his father’s name. Frank has spent his lengthy existence alone. The only notion of romance he has is from the movies. He wants the kind of love depicted on the silver screen. He convinces Euphronious to make him a bride, using Ida’s body.

Much like Emma Stone in Poor Things, Buckley throws herself into this unhinged performance. Every movement and line delivery is unique, making the unnatural come off as natural. Where Frank tries to keep a low profile, Ida was a wild card even before death. She brings out Frank’s inner monster, together spreading anarchy. They also spread social change, as the Bride becomes something of a radicalized feminist symbol. The commentary in The Bride! isn’t as on the nose as one might assume, but that commentary can be muddled. Ida’s rebellion would feel more justified if she had been murdered in cold blood, although it was really more of an accident. So, sometimes we question what exactly she’s rebelling against and why.

Just as Ida can be all over the place, so can the film itself. Like Buckley, writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal takes a big swing with musical set pieces that are better choreographed and more atmospheric than the ones in Folie à Deux. The Bride! also does a better job at blending gritty violence with fantastical escapism. Yet, the film sometimes goes from one sequence to another without a proper segue. There’s a particular dance scene that plays like a mashup of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Puttin’ On the Ritz from Young Frankenstein. It’s an entertaining number, but you’re left questioning how we got here and whether it actually moved the plot forward.

The supporting cast, which includes Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal, is underutilized as well. What makes The Bride! work just well enough is the electrifying chemistry between Buckley and Bale. Buckley, in particular, is not only great as the titular Bride, but also Mary Shelley. In the spirit of Elsa Lanchester in Bride of Frankenstein, Buckley gives a dual performance, with Shelley essentially possessing Ida from beyond. It’s one of the film’s many ideas that doesn’t always make sense. Buckley does make it a lot of fun to watch, however.