The movie “The Bride of Frankenstein” was released in 1935. It featured Dr. Frankenstein and an old university affiliate named Dr. Septimus Pretorius, who created a companion for Frankenstein's original monster. It was also one of the last movies to ever come out about the bride. Now, in 2026, the story gets a modern adaptation written by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
“The Bride!” takes place in 1930s Chicago, where a woman named Dr. Euphronious brings a murdered woman back to life to be a companion to Frankenstein’s monster. But, through the trailers, it seems that she is slowly remembering who she was and wants to take revenge on those who wronged her. It also seems to be about finding herself and her independence instead of being something solely for Frankenstein’s monster.
Gyllenhaal wrote, co-produced and directed the movie "The Bride!" The only other movie she has directed is a movie that came out in 2021 called “The Lost Daughter.” This movie was rated 94% critic-wise on Rotten Tomatoes but with an audience score of 56%. It was said to be well-acted but hard to follow and dull.
The person playing the bride is Jessie Buckley, who played a young Leda in the last movie Gyllenhaal directed, along with Gyllenhaal’s husband Peter Sarsgaard, who was also in her last movie as Professor Hardy. New faces include Christian Bale in the role of Frankenstein’s monster. He is most notable for his role in “American Psycho” as Patrick Bateman and the Dark Knight trilogy as Batman. Gyllenhaal’s younger brother, and well-known actor, Jake Gyllenhaal, plays Ronnie Reed. He is well known for his role in “Spider-Man: Far From Home” as Mysterio and also played Lou Bloom in “Nightcrawler.”
Overall, the movie seems like it’s going to be good, based on the trailers and cast alone. Some concern points to Gyllenhaal's previous movie that she directed, but it doesn’t seem to affect much. She's only directed one other movie, so there's no way to pinpoint a signature style yet or base it directly on who is making it. This movie has lots of hype around it, especially since Frankenstein's bride hasn’t been seen on the big screen in over 90 years. The movie comes out in theaters on March 6. It will be a long-awaited return for The Bride of Frankenstein, and hopefully it will not disappoint.