The Bride! is a 2026 gothic romance film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal adapting the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein directed by James Whale and written by William Hurlbut. The Bride! stars Jessie Buckley as the titular bride: the reanimated corpse of Ida, a woman in 1936 Chicago who was killed after becoming possessed by the author Mary Shelley, who desires to share the second half of the story that began with Frankenstein and that she wasn't able to finish due to brain cancer killing her. Christian Bale stars as Frankenstein's monster, who shows up to Chicago to plead with Dr. Cornelia Euphronius (Annette Bening) to save him from a life of loneliness by reanimating a woman's corpse. Frank and the revived but amnesiatic Ida travel across the Northeastern United States on the run from not only Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his secretary Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz) but also mob boss Lupino (Zlatko Buric) and his underling Clyde (John Magaro).

Time Stamps:

• (1:17) Frankenstein '80
• (21:39) Father Mother Sister Brother
• (49:57) Bride of the Monster
• (1:01:13) Poolman
• (1:15:41) Lisa Frankenstein
• (1:24:26) The Bride!
• (1:57:24) Spoilers
• (2:22:57) Next Time: The 98th Academy Awards

Works Cited:

• Anti-Masterpieces (Willa Harlow Ross, 2019)
• The Bride! (Maggie Gyllenhaal, 2026)
• "The Bride!" Exclaims but Never Explains (Richard Brody, 2026)
• Bride of the Monster (Ed Wood, 1955)
• 'Bride of the Monster' Letterboxd review by Will Sloan
• Chris Pine on How Directorial Debut 'Poolman' Came Together (Sydney Odman, 2022)
• Christian Bale leads daily group screams for 'The Bride!' role transformation
• Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams Talk 'Lisa Frankenstein' and the R-Rated Cut of Its Boldest Scene (Brian Davids, 2024)
• Father Mother Sister Brother (Jim Jarmusch, 2025)
• Father Mother Sister Brother movie review (Matt Zoller Seitz, 2025)
• Frankenstein '80 (Mario Mancini, 1972)
• Frankenstein '80 (Standard Edition Blu-ray) (Cauldron Films)
• Harry Styles spitting on Chris Pine #HarryStyles #ChrisPine - YouTube
• 'The Interview': Maggie Gyllenhaal on 'The Bride,' and Reaching Out to Her Brother - The New York Times (Lulu Garcia-Navarro, 2026)
• Lisa Frankenstein (Zelda Williams, 2024)
• ‎'Lisa Frankenstein' Letterboxd review by Framesofnick
• "Penelope" (Maggie Gyllenhaal, 2020)
• Poolman (Chris Pine, 2023)
• 'Poolman' Letterboxd review by Amanda the Jedi
• ‎'Poolman' Letterboxd review by Jaime Rebanal
• 'Poolman' Review: Chris Pine's Disastrous Directorial Debut (Siddhant Adlakha, 2023)
• TIFF 2023 | Poolman (Chris Pine, US) (Josh Lewis, 2023)
• Top 5 Movie Titles (Alternate Ending, 2023)

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Ben Verschoor

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Steven Santana

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• @number8axel.bsky.social‬

Opening music is "Root Beer Rag" by Billy Joel

Closing music is "G-Spot Tornado" by Frank Zappa

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