Like Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” (Warner Brothers) is loosely based on pre-existing material. Both adaptations are dark and moody, but the difference is that Gyllenhaal found the light, whereas Fennell simply allowed the darkness to overwhelm her movie.
The late gay filmmaker James Whale’s “The Bride of Frankenstein” was released in 1935. Gyllenhaal’s adaptation is set in the same period, in pre-WWII Chicago, when mobster Lupino (Zlatko Burić) was the scariest monster. Sassy and brassy Ida (Jessie Buckley) is a good-time gal who frequents Lupino’s night spot and knows too much about the evil he perpetrates (including cutting out the tongues of the women he murders). Shortly after becoming possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley (also Buckley), Ida is pushed down a flight of stairs by Lupino’s henchmen (John Magaro and Matthew Maher) and dies.
Meanwhile, a lovelorn Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) shows up at the home and lab of reanimation scientist Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) and inquires about her matchmaking services. Initially put off, Euphronious agrees to assist – let’s call him Frank – and they dig up Ida’s freshly buried body and bring her back to the slab in the lab where Euphronious proceeds to make Frank’s dream come true by bringing her back to life (with a few alterations including a stain on her face and elsewhere from some chemical solution).
A handful when she was alive the first time, the revived Ida is something else altogether. Before you can say Bonnie and Clyde, the pair is sneaking out of the doc’s house and dancing the night away in a club frequented by other outsiders, including multiple queer characters. But their bliss is short-lived as violence erupts, and they become front-page news as murderers. Soon they are on the lam, running from the police and other tormentors. Along the way, they make time to pop into cinemas where movies starring Frank’s favorite actor, Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal, brother of Maggie), are playing.
Among the law enforcers on their trail are detective Jake (Peter Sarsgaard) and his brilliant assistant Myrna (Penelope Cruz). As we soon discover, Jake has history with Ida, who has now been christened Penelope by Frank. With Jake and Myrna having figured out the killers’ pattern (which involves watching Reed’s movies) in multiple cities, the duo’s days are numbered. That is, until they manage to find their way back to Euphronious’ lab.
“The Bride!” is as much a salute to Whale’s “The Bride of Frankenstein” as it is an extended homage to Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” What Bale does with what could have been a thankless role is a sight to behold. Supporting players Benning, Sarsgaard, Cruz, and Jeannie Berlin (as Euphronious’ maid Greta) also make the most of their parts. If Buckley, nominated for an Academy Award for her devastating performance in “Hamnet,” doesn’t take home the Oscar this time, she may well be nominated again next year for her mind-blowing performance in “The Bride.”
Rating: B+
