By Dan Skip Allen 

Warner Brothers had a great year in 2025 with multiple awards contenders like Sinners, One Battle After Another, F1, and Weapons that came out. That doesn’t even count Final Destination Bloodlines, which was another moneymaker. It made a lot of sense that they moved the latest film, “The Brade,” from Maggie Gyllenhaal to March of 2026. It’s a reimagining of the classic Mary Shelley Frankenstein. This particular story seems like a popular one for writers and directors to adapt lately. I completely understand why. It’s one of the greatest literary works in history. Gyllenhaal ‘s version is a bit different than any I’ve seen before, which makes it a genuinely innovative idea.

Ida (Jessie Buckley) is out partying with her friends and has one too many drinks. She gets into an argument with some men, and they slap her around a bit. She ends up falling down a set of stairs, breaking her leg and cracking her skull on the railing on the way down. The men bury her in a nearby graveyard. Shortly thereafter, another man visits a doctor in Chicago. He says to her that he’s lonely and he needs her to create a companion for him. Together, they go dig up the body of the woman who just recently died not long ago. After setting things up, she proceeds to pull some levers, and currents of electricity run through her body. She comes alive and asks some questions about her existence, but the man named Frank (Christian Bale) and the doctor (Annette Bening) explain to her who she is and what her purpose on earth is. It’s to be with Frank and enjoy pleasures and his company. Together, they have fun around town and in other cities.

Maggie Gyllenhaal created an interesting vision regarding the world of the monster and his bride if you will. The film is set in the 1930s Chicago, New York, and other locations. The clothes, cars, hairstyling, and everything else at the time are perfectly executed. Including movie theaters that show old Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal) movies, which are a favorite of Frank. He takes his new bride to various theaters around the country to enjoy his favorite actor. The old Hollywood style and glitz and glamor are on display in this movie. Gyllenhaal spared no detail in recreating this time and place in 1930s American history. 

The story of Frankenstein is well known by many, but this particular version of Frankenstein and his bride is a bit different than the rest. It mainly focuses on the whirlwind relationship between these two star-crossed lovers. One is a bit confused about who she is and the other smitten by everything his woman says and does. Nothing she does upsets him or bothers him. Even when she accidentally kills a police officer. Which causes them to go on the run from the authorities. The authorities, who are two Chicago detectives played by Peter Sarsgaard and Penelope Cruz. They also have an interesting relationship with each other. If I had a significant other like Frank does in the bride, I wouldn’t be opposed to a lifestyle like this. These two were having a lot of fun in their lives in this story.

The title character of the bride, or Ida or Penelope as she’s sometimes called in the film, is played magnificently by Jessie Buckley. She plays this character with a bit of tourette’s syndrome. She says a lot of things she doesn’t mean, and it gets her into trouble. This was an interesting decision by her regarding the character she’s playing in this movie. Most of the time, though, she’s giving a fun and boisterous performance. She had a few monologues that had me chuckling, but most of her dialogue was strong and meant a lot in context with the story the film was telling. Buckley may win her first Academy Award for acting next week for her role in “Hamnet” as the grieving wife of William Shakespeare but that doesn’t exclude her from being in the conversation for an Oscar again next year for this role. She is that good in this role. I was so keyed into every word she said in this movie and as this character. Her performance opposite Bale was amazing. 

Christian Bale, on the other hand, was doing something equally special but in a different way. He had a lot of fun with this portrayal of Frank if you will as he’s called in the movie. He does some singing and dancing in one particular scene that I’d say he was channeling the late great Peter Boyle from “Young Frankenstein “. That sequence was a bit disjointed because it was added after the film was already made. It was an added scene to spice up the story a bit. Bale ate up the scenery opposite Buckley. I couldn’t help but love his childish exuberance. He and Buckley had great chemistry together as these two characters. Bale has played a lot of weird characters in his day, but this is one of the weirdest, but I loved him in this role.

As a fan of 60s and 70s cinema, I was a big fan of Bonnie and Clyde. The Academy Award Best Picture winner Bonnie and Clyde starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman in a supporting role. “The Bride” channeled this amazing movie in every aspect. It seemed to me that Gyllenhaal is also an admirer of this classic 60s movie. The aspects of the film where the Bride and Frank go on the run from the authorities is right out of Bonnie and Clyde. Even down to the police who are tracking them down, which are very on point in this picture. I like the fact that she admired this classic film and used it as inspiration for her vision of “The Brade” 

“The Bride” is a different, fun, and adventurous version of Frankenstein and his bride. Gyllenhaal infused the story with elements of other classic films, but it’s the look and feel of the movie that represented the story in a fantastic way. The performances from the supporting cast such as Bening, Sarsgaard, Cruz, Magaro, and others are all good, but it’s the two leading performances that anchor this incredible version of this classic story. Bale and Buckley both give awards worthy performances in this movie. This is the best film I’ve seen in 2026 so far, and it is not even close. There are no other movies thus far that have given me so much joy and entertainment as this one.

4 ½ stars