Maggie Gyllenhaal has been one of the most compelling and interesting actresses working today. From the big screen to the small, if Gyllenhaal is involved, there is an inherent level of intrigue. When she stepped behind the camera to direct her first feature film, The Lost Daughter, I was optimistic about the final product. There is no denying that actors who consistently make interesting choices on screen often bring that same sensibility to the director’s chair.
Unfortunately, The Lost Daughter ultimately didn’t work for me and proved to be a somewhat dull experience. Despite that, I remained fully on board with whatever project Gyllenhaal chose to direct next. That brings us to The Bride!, a film that is not only a massive change of pace from her debut but also one of the boldest swings I’ve seen a director take on their second feature.
The Bride! enters the 2026 conversation as one of the most divisive films of the year. It’s packed with bold, ambitious swings, but while that ambition is admirable, many of its most unhinged moments ultimately become the ones that land the weakest.
Set in 1930s Chicago, The Bride! follows Ida, a young woman whose life takes a strange and tragic turn when her mind becomes inhabited by the spirit of Mary Shelley. The possession ultimately leads to her death, but her story is far from over. Seeking relief from a life defined by isolation, Frankenstein’s Monster turns to Dr. Euphronious with a desperate request: cure his loneliness. The solution arrives in the form of a bold resurrection experiment that brings Ida back from the dead as the companion he has long searched for, The Bride. As the pair leave the confines of the laboratory and venture into a world that reacts with fear and hostility toward their existence, their unconventional romance begins to take shape. What begins as a search for belonging soon evolves into something larger, as Ida’s defiance sparks a wider movement while the two find themselves pursued by detectives, gangsters, and increasingly angry mobs.
Where The Bride! struggles most is within writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s screenplay, which is undeniably packed with intriguing ideas. From the inclusion of Mary Shelley’s introduction to the Bonnie and Clyde-coded romance at its center, the script reaches for something ambitious, blending social commentary and an unconventional love story into one sprawling narrative. The film also explores themes of loneliness and the search for someone who truly understands you, even weaving in unexpected musical numbers throughout. In theory, these elements should complement one another, but the screenplay often feels pulled in too many directions at once. The result is a screenplay full of fascinating ideas that never fully coalesce, dragging the pacing to a near standstill and leaving the film with a strangely lethargic energy.
The Bride! is ultimately elevated by the bride herself, Jessie Buckley. Just ten days away from winning her first Academy Award, Buckley delivers a ferocious and fearless performance that matches the film’s wild ambitions beat for beat. For a movie constantly swinging for the fences, Buckley is the one performer who fully understands Gyllenhaal’s intentions and absolutely cooks in the role. Christian Bale certainly goes for broke as Frank, but he never quite reaches Buckley’s level of unhinged energy, while much of the supporting ensemble unfortunately feels wasted.
It’s somewhat ironic that The Bride! often feels like Joker: Folie à Deux if the latter had something more interesting to say. The DNA of that film is certainly present here, with Academy Award winner Hildur Guðnadóttir delivering a frantic score that even finds time to pay homage to Young Frankenstein, while Lawrence Sher’s cinematography often feels strikingly similar to the visual language he brought to Joker.
The Bride! ultimately feels like a film that is far more interesting to talk about than it is to actually watch. Maggie Gyllenhaal deserves credit for taking such a bold swing with her sophomore feature, crafting a film that refuses to play things safe even when those risks don’t fully pay off. While the screenplay struggles to bring its many ideas into a cohesive whole, the film’s ambition and Jessie Buckley’s ferocious performance keep it from completely collapsing under the weight of its own aspirations. It may not fully work, but in an era where so many studio films feel manufactured by committee, The Bride! at least swings for something stranger, messier, and undeniably its own.
