The Bride! (2026) - Review
When I saw a trailer for The Bride!, I felt like it was trying too hard to be punk, but I was impressed by Jessie Buckley’s colorful orange dress and the cast. I had not seen anything directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal before, so I had no clue what to expect. Based on the trailer, it looked like a feminist retelling of Bride of Frankenstein set in the 1930s with the bride doing a Harley Quinn bit. I didn’t think it would be a film I’d be seeing right away, but I must admit I was mildly curious. I ended up hearing so much mixed reception about the film that I had to see it myself.
What I got was my own mixed reception. As so many others have said, The Bride! doesn’t know what it wants to be. Gyllenhaal clearly had a lot of ideas she wanted to combine into a film, and I fear there are too many at once. The trailers and posters promised punk; it was mostly drama.
The Bride! is as schizophrenic a film as Penelope (Jessie Buckley) is herself. I have no idea why anyone thought having Penelope babble literary gibberish in an English accent while possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley would work. It doesn’t. It’s embarrassing to watch. It also detracts from the character arc of Penelope. Is this supposed to be some sort of commentary on the way women can sabotage each other?
The film adds two subplots: detectives and mobsters. Neither seems to contribute anything substantial. The film plays with genre, and I suppose the detectives and mobsters are classic film noir fare. In that regard, they contribute aesthetically. However, both subplots are painfully boring. They pull you away from the main plot and give nothing back.I found them to be excellent moments to check my watch.
I did, however, enjoy some moments in the film. There’s a strange dance party scene that I thought was unique and playful. The film is unabashedly violent, fitting the theme of rage. The violence isn’t gratuitous; it’s gritty and realistic. From heads getting stomped into the pavement to good old fashioned pistol shots to the torso, the spectrum of violence is proportional to characters the film indicates deserve it.
The Bride! is intentionally chaotic. When it worked, I sat back and enjoyed the ride. It mostly didn’t. I didn’t hate The Bride!, and I respect what Gyllenhaal tried to do. The staggering box office loss is going to have Gyllenhaal serving time in directorial prison, and that’s a shame. If you’re curious about The Bride!, watch it when you can stream it. You might find things you love about it, and perhaps that will outweigh the negatives. For me, the negatives just ever so slightly outweigh the positives.
TL;DR: I can’t bring myself to say I liked it. 2/5 Stars
