--- title: "The Bride!: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-bride/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-bride" critics_score: 59 critics_reviews: 18 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Bride! (2026): what the critics said Critics' score 59 from 18 reviews: 9 positive, 3 mixed, 6 negative. The reviews are split down the middle, and widely. Nine critics come out in favour, six against, with only three in between, which is about as wide a spread as we see. Most agree on the ambition: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reimagining of the Frankenstein story is called bold, messy, punkish and unlike anything else in cinemas, and the ones who enjoy it enjoy the mess. Praise clusters on Jessie Buckley, whom most critics describe as feral, unhinged and the reason the film holds together, with Christian Bale’s chemistry with her mentioned often. Reservations cluster just as tightly: an incoherent script, subplots that crowd out the central story, and feminist messaging several find heavy-handed or dated. The dissent is sharpest on Buckley herself. The Times calls her performance catastrophically poor, The Hollywood Reporter finds it shouty and mannered, and Vulture thinks it exposes her as an actor with one trick. Digital Spy argues the film misreads Mary Shelley’s novel rather than honouring it. ## Evening Standard — India Block Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. Gyllenhaal delivers a ferocious, gory, high-energy retelling packed with female rage, musical numbers, chases and shocks that hits the cultural moment perfectly. Buckley gives a show-stopping, range-pushing lead performance in this wild, expensive spectacle. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-maggie-gyllenhaal-b1273251.html) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. The critic finds the film a bizarre and enjoyable black comedy reimagining, with Maggie Gyllenhaal's direction indulging in homages and twists. Jessie Buckley's barnstorming, outrageous performance as the bride is singled out as the element that makes the spectacle work. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/04/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-christian-bale-frankenstein) ## Time Out — Anna Smith Rating 4/5. 4 March 2026. The critic hails Gyllenhaal's bold genre-blending feminist riff, praising Buckley's brilliantly unhinged lead performance and the film's visually exciting, funny, and thought-provoking qualities as a big-budget accessible success. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-bride-review-2026) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. The critic describes Gyllenhaal's audacious take as a bold, brash and modern Prometheus that remains interesting even when messy and excessive, highlighting the meta conceit, strong cast chemistry and potent reinvention of the source material. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-and-christian-bale-spark-in-maggie-gyllenhaals-high-voltage-horror/5214520.article) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 March 2026. The critic finds the film an energetic, handsome, and performer-driven time-shifting riff on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein story that holds interest despite rough patches. They single out the magnetic lead performances and the director’s bold, genre-hopping approach for praise while noting issues with tonal and intellectual coherence. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/movies/the-bride-review.html) ## The Observer — Wendy Ide Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2026. The critic describes the film as a messy but fascinating patchwork like the monster himself, a chaotic yet oddly beautiful collision of ideas. Jessie Buckley's immense, feral performance in the title role is singled out for making it viable and compelling. [Read the review](https://observer.co.uk/culture/film/article/the-bride-is-an-oddly-beautiful-collision-of-ideas) ## Radio Times — Jeremy Aspinall Rating 3/5. 5 March 2026. The critic finds the reimagining ambitious and stylish with strong performances, especially Buckley's mesmerising turn, but notes it fails to fully cohere as subplots and genre elements get in the way of the central story. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-bride-review/) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. The critic describes the film as a scrappy punk feminist take-off on the Frankenstein myth with audacity and strong lead performances but criticizes its lumbering pace and insufficient storytelling spine. They single out the magnetic chemistry between Buckley and Bale and the reimagining of perversity for praise while faulting the static rhythm and didactic elements. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-christian-bale-1236677964/) ## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong Rating 3/2/2. 4 March 2026. The critic calls the film a misguided and incoherent misfire that prompts second-hand embarrassment, faulting its dated feminist gestures, continuity errors, and failure to deliver on its radical claims despite Buckley's energetic performance. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-bride) ## The i Paper — Francesca Steele Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2026. Buckley delivers another tremendous, shape-shifting performance full of life and wit, but the script is a rambling dud that piles on heavy-handed girlboss messaging and fails to cohere as one film. Gyllenhaal needed to pick one idea instead of trying to make multiple films at once. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/jessie-buckley-better-bride-hollow-hollywood-feminism-4272809) ## The Telegraph — Tim Robey Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. The critic calls it a kinky, shallow and confused mess that wastes Buckley’s talents despite her wildly arresting performance. The lack of a decent story for the anti-heroine and overall shallowness at the core are singled out for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/03/04/the-bride-review/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 5 March 2026. A huge swing of enormous ambition that is also an incoherent disaster, with a confounding opening and a performance by Buckley that makes her look like an actor with only one weird trick. Its feminism is vague and mild-mannered underneath the posturing. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-the-bride-is-more-pussy-hat-than-punk-rock.html) ## Empire — Leila Latif Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. The film is a chaotic, incoherent mash-up of genres that fails to cohere despite flashes of visual flair and strong performances. It is a crushing disappointment from Gyllenhaal that obscures her earlier strengths. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-bride-review/) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Rating ★★★★☆. 5 March 2026. The critic calls it an unruly blast and weirdly marvellous ode to the unruly, careening through homages and a feminist twist. Gyllenhaal’s visuals and Buckley’s fantastic performance are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/34e68f63-6c24-4e1a-8ca0-f6082f8c3802) ## IndieWire — Ryan Lattanzio 4 March 2026. An ambitious feminist opera that feels unintentionally tailored to align with neighboring DC properties, with Jessie Buckley's anguished scream of a performance unable to sustain it. The film is a wokified, Joker-fied folie-à-deux zonked on its own rage. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-bride-review-maggie-gyllenhaal-1235182464/) ## Slant Magazine — Justin Clark 4 March 2026. A messy punk tale and shotgun blast of a movie that gives Mary Shelley her due through a roaring, feral expression of repressed female thought and emotion, with fealty to the protagonist's defiant emotions rather than gothic horror conventions. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-christian-bale-maggie-gyllenhaal/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 4 March 2026. The film is an over-conceptualized and over-intellectualized feminist Frankenstein spin that becomes a joyless slog, with a shouty, mannered central performance by Buckley that mutes any power. It earns credit for ambition and stylish visuals but is best left at the altar. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-maggie-gyllenhaal-1236519880/) ## The Times Rating ★☆☆☆☆. 4 March 2026. The critic deems it a howling misfire and flashy, incoherent Frankenstein reboot that abandons artistic integrity. Jessie Buckley’s central performance is singled out as catastrophically poor and ill-judged. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-djd8v337b) ## Collider — Therese Lacson Rating 8/10. 4 March 2026. The critic finds the film a wild, irreverent, and unique adaptation that overflows with chaotic energy and benefits from strong lead performances. The feminist message is sometimes heavy-handed and lacks nuance. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-bride-review-christian-bale-jessie-buckley-frankenstein/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 8/10. 4 March 2026. The critic finds the film an extremely messy but inventive and unhinged delight that mixes genres in an irreverent way. They single out its audacious, meta approach to the Frankenstein story and willingness to take big swings. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/2115708/the-bride-2026-movie-review/) ## NME — James Mottram Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2026. The critic calls it a messy-if-inventive meta feminist monster movie and scrappy, rebellious, arty cousin to Guillermo del Toro’s take, praising its unique singular quality, thought-provoking re-assessment of Shelley, bonkers feminist call-to-arms, raucous score, and standout dance sequences amid scattershot elements. They note it is wilder and weirder than Gyllenhaal’s prior work. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/the-bride-review-maggie-gyllenhaal-jessie-buckley-christian-bale-3932728) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2026. Gyllenhaal's ambitious, genre-bending take on the material is the strangest big-studio release of the year and rewards with its eccentricity and refusal to ingratiate. The film lacks coherence and pushes its allegory too bluntly at times. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2026/03/06/movies/the-bride-movie-review-maggie-gyllenhaal-jessie-buckley) ## Digital Spy — Clarisse Loughrey Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2026. The critic finds the premise fun as a response to the 1935 film and meditation on muzzled women in cinema but argues the divisive movie fails to follow through on its bold claims, instead throwing Mary Shelley under the bus by misrepresenting her novel and underestimating its depth and empathy. They see it as only half-understanding the source material while presenting female rebellion in a shallow way. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a70623958/the-bride-mary-shelley-frankenstein/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond 4 March 2026. Gyllenhaal reinvents the Frankenstein story as an original, punkish monster mashup and love story with big ideas and a worthy feminist bent, handled on a grand scale after her smaller debut. Buckley gives a sensational, fearless generational performance as the title character who finds her own voice, with strong support from Bale as a soulful monster and the rest of the cast. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2026/03/the-bride-maggie-gyllenhaal-jessie-buckley-christian-bale-1236743069/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 2 out of 5. 4 March 2026. The critic views the film as a chaotic, messy but boldly ambitious Frankenstein riff stitched together from wild ideas and influences, with strong, watchable central performances from Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale that anchor the proceedings. They appreciate its daring swing and wacky beauty despite numerous stumbles and a sense that it amounts to less than the sum of its parts. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-bride-review-beautiful-abomination-frankenstein/) ## The Wrap 4 March 2026. The critic calls the film a glorious, invigorating pastiche that rights wrongs in prior Frankenstein adaptations by centering Mary Shelley's feminist perspectives. Buckley delivers a nuanced yet rampantly invigorating lead performance that anchors the monstrous masterwork, especially in its phantasmagoric first half. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/the-bride-review-jessie-buckley-christian-bale-maggie-gyllenhaal/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-bride.md