Written and directed by the actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Bride!" is, at its essence, an epic love story - modern, feminist, tragic, sweet, funny, and over the top - and I say all this in a good way. It’s a film that refuses to fit in a box, and that’s what makes this film so unique and special. It wears its influences and references proudly, and that helps bring out such sterling performances from Jessie Buckley as the bride, and Christian Bale as Frank(einstein’s monster). 

A scene from 'The Bride!'

As for the exclamation point at the end of the title, Maggie explained that this unpredictable story of identity and the attempt to reclaim ‘self’ always felt like it was bursting with its own identity, and that the exclamation point felt so natural. She placed it there and expected someone would eventually ask her to put it down, but no one did, and so it rightfully stayed. 

The film starts off with Mary Shelley (also Jessie Buckley) confessing how there was so much more she needed to say when she wrote Frankenstein, and that’s it’s now time to let that all out by possessing a body. She chooses moll Aida (Jessie Buckley), and an astonishing sequence in a 1930s speakeasy ensues, as the two characters vie for control of Aida’s physical body, with Buckley switching from an English to an American accent, at the drop of a pin, again and again. Shooting off her mouth about Lupino, a mob boss, earns her a fatal push down the stairway.

We then fast forward to Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) having arrived in New York, and seeking out Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening), who has written books about ‘reinvigoration’, which is basically what Frankenstein had done to create his monster, more than a century previous to what transpires in this film. Frank is a horny monster, looking for Love, and enlists the doctor to help him find that bride. By sheer coincidence, they dig up the corpse of Aida, and as we are constantly reminded later, this was not with her consent! 

The official film poster of 'The Bride!'

That is as much of the story as I’ll reveal, as the film is one crazy, roller coaster of a ride - and the voyage of discovery is so worth the price of admission. There’s a little of Cabaret, of Bonnie & Clyde, of vaudeville musicals and acts, of Bride of Frankenstein, of body horror, of visceral images and sequences, and there’s both tragedy and eye-rolling shafts of humor. There are musical tributes, and a superb support cast that includes Maggie’s little brother Jake, Penelope Cruz, John Magaro, and Peter Sarsgaard, who is Maggie’s husband. 

The challenge with this kind of film would be how to make your two monsters sympathetic, without losing their status as monsters. It’s a fine balancing act, so kudos to Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale for their acting. Their chemistry is palpable and incandescent. You never lose sight of their being reprehensible monsters, both of them technically ‘the undead’, and yet you warm up to them as their love story plays out. 

"The Bride!" opens in cinemas today, March 4, and may not be everyone’s cup of tea. There is graphic violence, and some themes may be contentious to those who are easily offended, but you can’t ignore the conviction and power of Maggie’s writing and directing. It’s so over-the-top that it somehow works for an audience open to storytelling.