NOW IN THEATERS! In writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second feature, The Bride, absolute unholy hell is unleashed in the shape of Jessie Buckley inhabiting the “reinvigorated” body of a dead gangster groupie in 1930s Chicago. The ghost of Mary Shelley (Jessie Buckley) introduces the film, explaining that upon her death at 53, she still had stories to tell, and she means to express herself from beyond the grave. Mary Shelley exhorts the audience to get ready because “Here comes the m***********g Bride!”
When Frank, a.k.a. Frankenstein’s Monster (Christian Bale), appears at the medical offices of Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), she thinks he’s come to be studied. He tells her he’s read her research on reviving the dead. Frank, after 100 years of painful solitude, spends his time watching romantic comedies featuring the terpsichorean escapades of movie star Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal). What he wants now is a companion to match his unsophisticated romantic ideals. He asks Euphronius to create a bride for him. Just before this fateful request, a young mob moll named Ida (Buckley) has a fit in a restaurant, possessed by the aforementioned Mary Shelley. Ida’s outbursts result in her being pushed down a staircase and killed.
As fate would have it, her body is pulled from the grave to undergo the “reinvigoration” process. When she wakes, all memory of her life is gone, and Frank lies to her, telling her that they were a couple until a terrible accident killed her and disfigured him. She is suspicious, but is also fired up to get back to life, has no f*cks to give, and drags Frank to a club to dance. When a couple of men get grabby with The Bride, Frank curb-stomps them to death, catching the attention of the police. In a raucous set piece in a ballroom, The Bride shoots a cop. Now they are on the run, making The Bride a road trip movie. In the aftermath of the shooting, women around the country are inspired to rise up, screaming The Bride’s signature catchphrase, “brain attack!” while wreaking havoc.
“When a couple of men get grabby with The Bride, Frank curb-stomps them to death, catching the attention of the police.”
As The Bride begins to form a new identity, questions hang over her. Will she ever learn the truth? Frank is satisfied that whatever violent ends these violent delights invoke, it’s fine because he’s got his soulmate. They go from city to city in a frenzy, following the showings of Reed’s pictures. They live like Bonnie and Clyde, or Mickey and Mallory. But she knows something is off. Their wild ride is tracked by two detectives: Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz). Of course, the denouement is a confluence of harsh, violent reality.
Listen, The Bride is all over the map, but the explosive performances of Buckley and Bale leave you breathless and wanting more. They are pitch-perfect, with Bale providing the framing for Buckley’s unhinged madness. Gyllenhaal was aiming for a manifesto, and gets some of that across, but the message is diluted by the chaos. She centers the three women in the tale: the mad scientist, the alive-again woman running on pure adrenaline, and the plucky detective. Frank is a side effect, played apologetically as a cautionary tale, like The Hulk. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
While the film lacks cohesion, the rollercoaster ride is exhilarating. IMAX cinematography and the wild soundscape pull you into this vortex of insanity. It’s not unlike The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s not short on fan service either, from having the director’s famous brother play the golden-age movie star to a mid-run dance number nod to Young Frankenstein.
The Bride will catch flak for its chaotic throughline, which is no doubt the result of extensive audience testing. When Warner Brothers is paying $80M for your art project, you do what they say. Still, the film is a delightfully insane romp that falls short of landing its message in mayhem. But what glorious mayhem it is.
"…glorious mayhem..."
