Posted in: Movies | Tagged: maggie gyllenhaal, the bride

The Bride!: The Monsters Are "In A Lot Of Pain, Like All Of Us Are"

The Bride! director Maggie Gyllenhaal says the monsters in this film will be monsterous, but "they’re in a lot of pain, like all of us are."

With Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Frankenstein out in the world over at Netflix, the long line of projects inspired by Mary Shelly's novel is starting to wind down. For a hot minute, it seemed like every other movie drew at least some elements of the novel, and the last one is set to be released in the early part of 2026. The Bride! has been delayed a couple of times, and the concept has been buckwild from the moment it was announced. We got to see some early footage of the film at CinemaCon back in April, and it was Wild with a capital "w." The teaser trailer was finally released to the public back in September, and the public got a chance to see this new version of Frankenstein and the Bride running around 1930s Chicago. The whole point of Frankenstein is really examining the idea of who exactly the monster is, but there isn't any room for doubt in this adaptation. Unlike del Toro's Frankenstein, which humanizes the Creature significantly, Maggie Gyllenhaal's take on the story is largely the opposite. As Gyllenhaal explained in a new interview with Empire, these monsters are being very monstrous, but that isn't all they are.

"I believe that every single one of us has a monstrous vein inside us. And by monstrous, I mean really monstrous. I mean terrifying to look at. You keep it hidden," Gyllenhall explained. "And so in my story, the monsters are monstrous. Even in the trailer, they do really awful things, and that's just the beginning of it, honestly. And at the same time, they are heroes. And I hope that they're relatable, even if they've been brought back from the dead. They're in a lot of pain, like all of us are."

As someone who loves the source material, and when directors go absolutely buckwild, everything from the aesthetics to the themes about The Bride! looks promising. This might be one of those movies that doesn't exactly have a large audience, but if it clicks with someone, it's going to become part of their personality.

The Bride!: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

From Maggie Gyllenhaal (Academy Award-nominated writer/director of The Lost Daughter) and starring Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley and Academy Award winner Christian Bale comes THE BRIDE! A bold, iconoclastic take on one of the world's most compelling stories.

A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!

The film stars Buckley, Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, with Bening, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, and Oscar winner Penélope Cruz. Maggie Gyllenhaal directs from her own screenplay and produces alongside Oscar nominee Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Talia Kleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman Keren. The executive producers are Carla Raij, David Webb and Courtney Kivowitz.

Gyllenhaal is supported behind the camera by a team of award-winning film artisans, including director of photography Lawrence Sher, production designer Karen Murphy, editor Dylan Tichenor, music supervisor Randall Poster, composer Hildur Gudnadóttir and costume designer Sandy Powell.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A First Love Films / In The Current Company Production, A Maggie Gyllenhaal Film: THE BRIDE!. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, only in theaters and IMAXÒ in North America on March 6, 2026, and internationally beginning 4 March 2026.

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