For her second feature film, The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal is changing directions entirely and going for a Frankenstein horror movie that’s been described as “punk.”
The actress first branched off into directing in 2021 with her Netflix Oscar-nominated debut The Lost Daughter — an intense psychological drama about mothers and their daughters based on an Elena Ferrante novel. After a successful first attempt, she’s now focusing on her self-described “baby number 2,” this time at Warner Bros, after Netflix allegedly passed on in favor of Guillermo del Toro’s own Frankenstein movie.
Who stars in The Bride!?
The cast for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is star-packed and filled with reunions for the director and the actors. Jessie Buckley, whose career received a considerable boost after starring in Gyllenhaal’s first film, is back working with the director as the titular character — the bride of Frankenstein. Joining her is Christian Bale as the monster. This will be Bale and Gyllenhaal’s first time working together since she played Rachel Dawes to his Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight.
Gyllenhaal’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard, is also part of the cast. The two have worked together recurrently in the past. First in the unreleased indie In God’s Hands, then in 2007’s High Falls, and in an off-Broadway production of Uncle Vanya. The director also cast her husband in her short film Penelope in 2020 and in The Lost Daughter.
Hollywood legends Annette Bening and Penélope Cruz, as well as actress-dancer Julianne Hough round up the high-profile ensemble.
What is The Bride! about?
The Bride!‘s title indicates the movie will be focused on the bride of Frankenstein rather than the monster himself. According to its official logline, the film starts when “a lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.”
The description is strikingly reminiscent of Yorgos Lanthimos’ recent Oscar-winning Emma Stone vehicle Poor Things, which in itself had major Frankensteinian elements. Sarsgaard has spoken a bit about the film, calling it a “big, romantic, deeply romantic, wild, punk monster movie” in an interview with The Independent, so that at least offers some distinction from the 2023 movie.
Bride! has been labeled a Horror/Romance/Drama on platforms like IMDb and Mubi. A camera test for the film was done in April of 2024, with Gyllenhaal sharing an exciting first look at her leading duo. In the pictures, a pensive Buckley sports a bleached blonde hairdo and matching eyebrows, dark make-up and a big black spot on the right side of her face. Meanwhile, “punk monster” Bale has Hope tattooed across his chest and a blazer combo reminiscent of ‘70s punk fashion.
When is The Bride! coming out?
The Bride! is slated for an October 3, 2025 premiere, including an IMAX release, just in time for Halloween.
The movie is being produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff (Joker, The Irishman), Talia Kleinhendler (The Lost Daughter), Osnat Handelsman-Keren (The Lost Daughter), and Gyllenhaal, and executive produced by Carla Raij (Maestro, The Fablemans).
