This article is about the 2026 film. For other uses, see The Bride (disambiguation).

The Bride!
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Based on Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
by Mary Shelley
Produced by
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal
  • Emma Tillinger Koskoff
  • Talia Kleinhendler
  • Osnat Handelsman-Keren
Starring
  • Jessie Buckley
  • Christian Bale
  • Peter Sarsgaard
  • Annette Bening
  • Jake Gyllenhaal
  • Penélope Cruz
Cinematography Lawrence Sher
Edited by Dylan Tichenor
Music by Hildur Guðnadóttir
Production
companies
  • First Love Films
  • In the Current Company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • February 26, 2026 (2026-02-26) (Leicester Square)
  • March 6, 2026 (2026-03-06) (United States)
Running time
126 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $80–90 million[2][3]
Box office $1 million

The Bride! is a 2026 American Gothic romance film[4] written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. It stars Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale alongside Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz. The film draws inspiration from the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, which was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein.

The Bride! had its world premiere at the Empire Leicester Square in London, on February 26, 2026.[5] It was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on March 6. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Speaking from the afterlife, Mary Shelley says she has a story she wanted to tell after Frankenstein, but could not due to her death. To tell it, she possesses Ida, a woman living in 1936 Chicago, who in her trance proceeds to discuss the criminal activities of mob boss Lupino. Lupino's henchmen Clyde and James find Ida at her home and kill her by pushing her down the stairs.

Elsewhere in Chicago, Frankenstein's monster arrives at the house of scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronius, whose work on reanimation he has read, asking to create a companion for him. Euphronius, who nicknames the monster "Frank", is only convinced as Frank says he thought she was a mad scientist, and both dig out Ida from her grave and through machinery similar to Dr. Frankenstein's revive Ida.

Ida, who is amnesiac but retains vast knowledge and vocabulary that she at times speaks out in spurts, is at first resistant to Frank, but he uses the fact that she has no memory of her previous life to say she was his Bride and lost her memory in an accident. Both go out, watch a movie featuring Frank's favorite actor Ronnie Reed, and dance in a club, and as they leave two men harrass the Bride, leading them to be killed by Frank and the Bride. Frank tells the Bride to run away, but she decides to live life as a runaway with him. They stow away in a train to New York City, killing a security officer who finds them as the train passes through Indiana. In their New York hideout, when the Bride asks for a real name, Frank thinks up "Penelope Rogers", after Ginger Rogers, and she takes to it, asking to be called "Penny".

Detective Jake Wiles and his assistant Myrna Malloy investigate the murders, and eventually follow them to New York. Frank and the Bride cause chaos in a screening of Revolt of the Zombies, and as they run from both the police and an angry mob, hide in a high-class party. Disguised as a waiter, Frank finds Ronnie Reed, expresses his fandom, but is dismissed. An angry Frank proceeds to start dancing, the Bride joins him, and their dancing makes other partygoers enter a trance doing similar moves. The police then breaks into the party. The Bride holds Reed at gunpoint and starts ranting, during which Wiles starts to recognize her, and eventually the Bride and Frank run away after killing a policeman, hotwiring a car to leave the city.

The Bride's actions inspire women in New York to start rioting using her utterings as words of action, and once Lupino recognizes her in a newspaper, he kills James for failing to keep her dead and orders Clyde to work on it. While the Bride and Frank appear to have vanished, Malloy notices reports of murders and appearances of people similar to them have shown in cities where Reed's films were set, prompting her to ask Wiles to bring them to another one, Niagara Falls. They find the couple just as Frank asked the Bride to marry him. Wiles confronts the Bride calling her Ida, and she eventually shoots him in the foot before running away. As the couple drives away, Frank admits that he was just giving a cover-up story to make the Bride he never knew before reviving interested in him.

Wiles uses the injury to ask for his retirement, which his superiors only accepted if he appointed a replacement, so he gives his detective badge to Malloy. She eventually follows the couple to a drive-in theater in Illinois, where Frank hears his beloved say that after reflecting about her supposed past as "Ida" and her current experiences as "Penny", she will now answer to just "The Bride". Clyde then shoots Frank in the head, prompting the Bride to run away with his body. She drives straight to Euphronius, who says she does not feel capable of reviving Frank and just wants to study his decomposition. Clyde then breaks into the laboratory and shoots the Bride, as does the police who follow into the room, making Clyde escape through a window. Malloy arrives, shows her badge and says that remaining there will not help and they should look in the vicinity for Clyde. Once the police leaves, Euphronius, seemingly possessed by Shelley's spirit, decides to revive the couple. From outside Malloy sees bright lights shine from the laboratory, and inside the revived corpses hold hands.

During the credits, Lupino is surrounded by the rioters inspired by the Bride, who are intent on killing him.

Cast

  • Jessie Buckley as Ida "The Bride" / Mary Shelley
  • Christian Bale as "Frank", the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein
  • Peter Sarsgaard as Det. Jake Wiles, a police detective who investigates Frank and the Bride
  • Annette Bening as Dr. Cornelia Euphronious, a scientist who assists Frank
  • Jake Gyllenhaal as Ronnie Reed, a popular actor whom Frank idolizes
  • Penélope Cruz as Myrna Malloy, Jake's assistant
  • Zlatko Burić as Lupino, a mob boss
  • John Magaro as Clyde, an associate of Lupino
  • Matthew Maher as James, an associate of Lupino
  • Jeannie Berlin as Greta, Euphronious' maid
  • Louis Cancelmi as Officer Goodman, a police officer who crosses paths with Frank and the Bride
  • Julianne Hough as Iris / Jinx

Production

Development

In August 2023, the weekly issue of Production Weekly reported an upcoming remake of the 1935 film The Bride of Frankenstein from Netflix, written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Penélope Cruz, Christian Bale, and Peter Sarsgaard (Gyllenhaal's husband).[6]

Pre-production

Maggie Gyllenhaal at the 67th Berlinale in Berlin, Germany, in 2017.
The Bride! is the second feature film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

In January 2024, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures was producing the film and Annette Bening had joined its ensemble cast, which included Jessie Buckley (who starred in Gyllenhaal's feature directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, in 2021) as "the star of the movie", alongside Bale, Cruz, and Sarsgaard. According to Deadline Hollywood, Bale and Buckley were "circling this project well before the strikes."[7] In March 2024, Julianne Hough came on board to star,[8] with John Magaro and Jeannie Berlin joining the following month.[9] In June, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie's brother, revealed he would also star.[10]

In August 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, co-chairs and CEOs of the Warner Bros. motion picture unit with "a reputation in Hollywood for being talent whisperers with a willingness to spend", had "stepped in to foot the bill" after Netflix left the project (which included a disagreement over Gyllenhaal wanting to film in New York while Netflix pushed for New Jersey because it would be cheaper), adding that "The movie's costs, including production and marketing, will likely exceed $100 million". Gyllenhaal emphasized the creative freedom granted to her by De Luca and Abdy.[11]

Filming

Principal photography was scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, in New York City.[12] Cinematographer Lawrence Sher shot the film entirely with IMAX-certified digital cameras, marking his first collaboration with Gyllenhaal.[13][14] In January 2025, Deadline reported the film's budget as being $80 million, less than the $100 million it would have cost had it remained at Netflix.[2]

Post-production

During post-production, editing was completed by Dylan Tichenor.[15] The score was composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir, who replaced the previously announced Jonny Greenwood.[16] Swedish Musician Fever Ray announced they would compose two songs for the soundtrack and make an appearance in the film.[17] Gyllenhaal cut some violent sequences, including those of sexual violence, from the film in response to negative test screenings; one particular moment cut involved Frankenstein licking the black vomit off the Bride’s neck.[18]

Release

The Bride! had its world premiere at the Empire Leicester Square in London, on February 26, 2026.[5] It was first released in France and South Korea on March 4, 2026, and in the United States on March 6, 2026, in IMAX.[19][20] It was previously scheduled for release on October 3, 2025, and September 26, 2025.[21]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, The Bride! was released alongside Hoppers, and is projected to gross $16-18 million during its opening weekend.[22]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 194 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Concocted with all the restraint of a mad scientist's experiment, THE BRIDE! lurches in so many different creative directions that the overall effect is both sloppy and inspired."[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 55 out of 100 based on 44 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[24] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

The Guardian's reviewer Peter Bradshaw gave four stars out of five and states, "Jessie Buckley is electrifying as frizzy-haired, black-tongued monster's wife".[25] Writing for Empire Online, Leila Latif was less enthused, concluding "ultimately what the film most exudes is incompetence," and calling it "a hot mess" and "a crushing disappointment."[26] Other critics shared a similar outview of the film. Stephanie Zacharek of Time described the film as "an intellectual joyride without the joy".[27] Richard Brody of The New Yorker stated that "the movie has the form of mismatched pieces stitched together and brought to life more willfully than coherently".[28]

See also

  • List of films featuring Frankenstein's monster

References

  1. ^ "The Bride! (2026)". Irish Film Classification Office. January 23, 2026. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  2. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 15, 2025). "Why Warner Bros Shook Up Its Feature Exec Ranks As It Braces For An Auteur-Driven 2025 Slate". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  3. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (March 4, 2026). "Box Office: Pixar's 'Hoppers' Aims for $40 Million Debut, 'The Bride' Targets Lifeless $15 Million Start". Variety. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  4. ^ Oganesyan, Natalie (February 28, 2026). "Maggie Gyllenhaal Talks Directing Brother Jake Gyllenhaal For The First Time In 'The Bride!' & Early Feelings Of Envy In Her Career". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Tinoco, Armando (February 26, 2026). "'The Bride!' Premiere Red Carpet Photos: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Penélope Cruz & More". Deadline. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  6. ^ Navarro, Meagan (August 3, 2023). "The Bride – Maggie Gyllenhaal Reportedly Remaking Bride of Frankenstein for Netflix". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  7. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 12, 2024). "Annette Bening Boards Maggie Gyllenhaal's Frankenstein Movie At Warner Bros Opposite Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz & Peter Sarsgaard". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  8. ^ Grobar, Matt (March 27, 2024). "Julianne Hough Joins Maggie Gyllenhaal's Frankenstein Pic 'The Bride!' For Warner Bros". Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  9. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 8, 2024). "John Magaro & Jeannie Berlin Join Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride!". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Keegan, Rebecca (June 5, 2024). "Jake Gyllenhaal Just Wants to Freak Himself Out". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  11. ^ Flint, Joe (August 10, 2024). "At Warner Discovery It's Lean Times, Except for the Movie Studio Bosses". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 11, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "The Bride". January 8, 2024. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  13. ^ Roxborough, Scott (May 16, 2024). "Imax Unveils 2025 Film Slate, Including 'Superman' and 'The Fantastic Four'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  14. ^ "The Bride! | Official 1.90 Teaser | Filmed For IMAX®". September 23, 2025 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Gardner, Chris (August 29, 2024). "September 5 Star Peter Sarsgaard on His 'Rabbit Brain', Live TV News and Why Wife Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride Is So 'Punk'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  16. ^ "Hildur Guðnadóttir to Score Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride". Film Music Reporter. May 2, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  17. ^ Ray, Fever (February 21, 2026). "Happy to announce a couple of new tracks!". Instagram. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  18. ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (February 28, 2026). "The Interview: Maggie Gyllenhaal on Envy, Rage and Reaching Out to Her Brother". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  19. ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 19, 2025). "Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'The Bride' Moves Out of 2025, Paul Thomas Anderson's Next Movie Pushed to Late September". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  20. ^ "IMAX Investor Presentation October 2025". IMAX Corporation. Archived from the original on October 23, 2025. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 12, 2024). "The Batman 2 From Matt Reeves Heads To Fall 2026; Paul Thomas Anderson-Leonardo DiCaprio Movie Gets Summer 2025 Date". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  22. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 4, 2026). "'Hoppers' To Pop $88M WW Debut, Best For Pixar Original Since 'Coco'; 'The Bride!' Eyes $40M WW – Box Office Preview". Deadline. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  23. ^ "The Bride!". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  24. ^ "The Bride". Metacritic. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  25. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (March 4, 2026). "The Bride! review – Jessie Buckley is electrifying as frizzy-haired, black-tongued monster's wife". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  26. ^ Latif, Leila (March 4, 2026). "The Bride! Review". Empire Online. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  27. ^ Zacharek, Stephanie. "The Bride! Is an Intellectual Joyride Without the Joy". time.com. Retrieved March 6, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ Brody, Richard (March 4, 2026). ""The Bride!" Exclaims but Never Explains". newyorker.com. Retrieved March 6, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)