"There is a whole garden of pleasures I have not had."
Warner Bros. Pictures
After Annette Bening's Dr. Euphronious grants Frank's request, the undead couple embark on a Bonnie and Clyde-style romantic rampage of rebellion across the streets of Illinois, Indiana, and New York City amidst radical social change and police intrigue. Gyllenhaal's brother Jake Gyllenhaal, husband Peter Sarsgaard, and Penélope Cruz also co-star as Frank's movie star crush and a pair of conflicted detectives chasing the fugitive lovebirds. Director Gyllenhaal introduces so many elements, from a mobster plotline to cinematic pastiches of classic Hollywood cinema to themes of violence against women.
Donning her trademark electric-shock hair, which originated from a character who famously had no lines of dialogue (apart from screaming) and only appeared in the last five minutes of the film, Buckley's go-for-broke Bride is a maniacally chaotic reincarnation of Shelley's persona (also portrayed by Buckley as a possessed framing device). Once revived, she and Frank embark on a wild spree against society that inspires copycats and a wave of outlaw imitators across the country.
The Bride! is an energetic reinvigoration of the monster-bride character, notoriously denied agency of her own or a literal voice, expressed in the rampage style of last year's disastrous but inspired romantic team-up, Joker: Folie à Deux—also from the same studio, while not coincidentally sharing a producer, composer, and cinematographer, Lawrence Sher. There's a riotous, punk rock attitude to Gyllenhaal's flawed but inventive fever dream reinterpretation of Frankenstein's monster's bride that ambitiously tries too hard to inject important contemporary feminist themes of choice and consent. It's a gloriously big swing that's just as messy as it is bold and horrifically exhilarating.
More | YVArcade / Inverse / Polygon / Slashfilm
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