The Bride! (2026) is a gothic romance film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Jessie Buckley stars in a dual role, as a murdered woman brought back to life and as the ghost of Mary Shelley. Christian Bale plays Frankenstein’s Monster, known here as “Frank.” Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penélope Cruz co-star. Set in 1936, the film follows Frank and his reanimated Bride on a crime spree from Chicago to New York and beyond. It draws inspiration from Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Shelley’s novel. It premiered in London on February 26, 2026, and Warner Bros. released it in the US on March 6. Reviews were mixed, and the film was a box office bomb, grossing $24 million worldwide on a budget reported at $80–90 million.
At a glance
| Release date | February 26, 2026 (premiere, Empire Leicester Square, London); March 6, 2026 (US) |
| Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| Writer | Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| Based on | Frankenstein by Mary Shelley; inspired by Bride of Frankenstein (1935) |
| Starring | Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, Penélope Cruz |
| Music | Hildur Guðnadóttir |
| Runtime | 126 minutes |
| Rating | R (US) |
| Budget | $80–90 million (reported figures vary) |
| Box office | $24 million worldwide |
| Franchise | Frankenstein adaptations; a new take on Bride of Frankenstein (1935) |
Plot summary
Speaking from the afterlife, Mary Shelley says she has a story she wanted to tell after Frankenstein but never could because she died. To tell it, she possesses Ida, a woman in 1936 Chicago. In a trance, Ida starts talking in public about the crimes of gang boss Lupino. Two of his men take her aside, and in her ranting she falls down a flight of stairs to her death. Meanwhile, Frankenstein’s creature, “Frank,” arrives at the home of Dr. Cornelia Euphronious (Annette Bening), who has studied reanimation. After a century of loneliness, he asks her to make him a companion.
They revive Ida’s corpse, but she has lost her memory. Frank tells her she is his bride, injured in an accident. After a night at the movies watching his idol, actor Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), and then dancing, Frank kills two men who try to assault her. Rather than leave him, she runs away with him. They stow away on a train to New York, with Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his secretary, Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz), on their trail. Frank renames her Penelope Rogers. At a high-society party, the couple dance like Reed in his films, and Penelope holds Reed at gunpoint and calls out the men there who abuse women. Their crime spree makes headlines, and Lupino sends his man Clyde to finish her off.
Spoiler section: Niagara Falls and after
Malloy notices that the couple’s sightings follow the settings of Reed’s films, which leads the police to Niagara Falls. Wiles tells Penelope that she was Ida, and she shoots him in the foot. Wiles confesses to Malloy that he and Ida had planned to bring down Lupino, and he hands the case to her. At a drive-in, Frank admits the truth and proposes. Penelope, now calling herself the Bride, accepts, but Clyde shoots Frank dead. Clyde later kills the Bride at Euphronious’s laboratory as well. Urged on by Malloy and Shelley, Euphronious revives them both, and the two corpses take each other’s hands. During the credits, Lupino’s gang is rounded up by Wiles and women rioters inspired by the Bride.
Production and behind the scenes
In August 2023, Production Weekly reported that Gyllenhaal was writing and directing a remake of Bride of Frankenstein for Netflix, with Cruz, Bale and Sarsgaard, her husband. By January 2024 the project had moved to Warner Bros., and Bening had joined. Buckley, who had starred in Gyllenhaal’s directing debut, The Lost Daughter (2021), was announced as “the star of the movie.” Deadline reported that Bale and Buckley had been “circling this project well before the strikes.” Julianne Hough, John Magaro, Jeannie Berlin and Gyllenhaal’s brother, Jake, joined later.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Netflix left partly over where to shoot. Gyllenhaal wanted New York, and Netflix preferred cheaper New Jersey. Warner Bros. film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy “stepped in to foot the bill.” The paper said costs including marketing would likely top $100 million. Gyllenhaal praised the creative freedom they gave her. Principal photography was scheduled to begin in New York City on March 4, 2024. Hildur Guðnadóttir composed the score, and the musician Fever Ray makes a cameo performing music from the soundtrack.
Release and reception
After its premiere at the Empire Leicester Square on February 26, 2026, the film opened in France and South Korea on March 4. Its US release followed on March 6, including in IMAX. It had earlier been dated for September 26 and then October 3, 2025. It was projected to open to $16–18 million but took only $7.3 million in the US and Canada, placing third behind Hoppers and Scream 7‘s second weekend. It fell 70% the next weekend. It ended with $13 million in the US and Canada and $11 million elsewhere. Several outlets called it a bomb, with projected losses for Warner Bros. of up to $100 million.
Critics were split. Rotten Tomatoes lists 57% of 335 reviews as positive, and its consensus calls the result “both sloppy and inspired.” Metacritic scores it 55, and CinemaScore audiences gave it a C+. In The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave four stars and called Buckley “electrifying as frizzy-haired, black-tongued monster’s wife.” Donald Clarke of The Irish Times gave two, writing, “It is loud. It is brash. It is willfully discordant.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety complained that “the movie doesn’t move.”
Legacy and influence
The Bride! followed months after Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein (2025). It puts the Bride at the center of the story and has Mary Shelley herself narrate. It takes the 1935 film’s idea of a mate made for the Monster and sets it in the gangster America of the 1930s. For the classic version of the creature, see Frankenstein (1931) and the Universal Monsters series.
Trivia
- Buckley plays both the Bride and Mary Shelley.
- Bening’s scientist is named Dr. Cornelia Euphronious.
- Penelope’s outburst disrupts a screening of Revolt of the Zombies.
- The film came to digital on April 7, 2026, and to disc on May 19, 2026.
Related links
- Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride of Frankenstein (characters)
- Frankenstein (franchise hub)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Frankenstein (2025)
- Mary Shelley (author)