!is inspired, sort of, by the 1935 Universal monsters horror The Bride of Frankenstein and the beloved era of films it belongs to. Think: silly, black-and-white monster with bolts in his neck.
But while the setting and characters are very much a loving homage, Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter ) – who also has the sole writing credit – here tries to tell a significantly more modern story about a woman on the run in a world of men of men who see her as an object to satisfy their various desires.
Jessie Buckley – the front-runner for this year’s lead actress Oscar for her part in Hamnet – gives a very big and electric performance as the titular Bride: a party girl raised from the dead in 1936 to be a companion to Frankenstein’s monster.
A scene from The Bride!
Warner Bros. Pictures Publicity
It’s remarkably embodied, raw and funny, given the character has no memory, confused motivations and is occasionally possessed – for some reason – by the ghost of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley (also played by Buckley in a nod to the framing device of the 1935 film).
Christian Bale (Vice, American Hustle ) is the aforementioned Frankenstein’s monsters (who goes by just plain ole Frank). There’s something special about a performance where an actor has stitches that look like they’re holding the lid of his head on, but somehow still manages to suck you into believing the sadness and strangeness of a lonely 100-something-year outcast from society.
It’s quickly set up as a two-hander, as the pair on go on the run from the law. And then starts to go to pieces.
It meanders but can’t commit to being picaresque. It tries its hand at mystery, but never really sets it up. The police investigation starts up, of course. A mini revolution is inspired, maybe? The mafia also gets involved – because why not. The ghost possession plot more-or-less vanishes halfway through.
And buried under all this are the remnants of its feminists themes and a romance story that never quite live up to the premise because there’s so much else going on.
Jessie Buckley in The Bride!
Warner Bros. Pictures
It starts to beg the question of what kind of thing we’re supposed to be watching, what exactly it’s trying to say, and why we should be following along.
Tonally, it’s equally a jumble, jumping from earnest and gothy, to grim and violent, to campy and self-referential.
This is a film that features a self-professed mad scientist bringing corpses back from the grave (Annette Bening), fantasy sequences set in 1930s musicals, and a scene where monsters hypnotise a crowd into joining a mesmerising dance number in a hotel lobby.
Annette Bening in The Bride!
Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s also a film that features no fewer than four scenes that suggest sexual assault, and one where a man’s head is stomped into mush on a curb by one of the heroes.
The threads that should join these things at the seams don’t feel quite there.
This is all frustrating, because there is so much to love about The Bride! .
It’s a genuinely original and strange bit of filmmaking, fusing a sleek and artistically tight look with what feels like heartfelt appreciation for a bygone era of filmmaking.
Many of its set pieces feel singular and thoroughly fun and funny in the moment.
Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard , Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew Maher round out a stellar cast.
And the film’s hefty budget is all on the screen, especially in its dazzling costumes and make-up, cinematography, and its gothic-themed takes on 1930s Chicago and New York.
On paper, this should be blast.
But The Bride!’ s pieces never really come together enough to fully bring it to life.
Boris Jancic is a member of RNZ’s digital team and reviews films.
