At the London world premiere of The Bride!, filmmaker and actor Maggie Gyllenhaal made it clear that her reimagining of the Frankenstein mythos places consent at its core. For her, revisiting the story of the Bride of Frankenstein without interrogating that theme would be impossible.
“In the mythology of the Bride of Frankenstein, that’s the major issue,” she said, emphasising that the character’s lack of agency is foundational to the narrative. “I can’t make a movie about the bride of Frankenstein without consent being really on the table because she fundamentally has no say in it. You could say, on some level, we don’t have much say in being born either, but we’re not born as grown women. And we’re not told that we were made for someone else to marry.”
Set in 1930s Chicago, The Bride! stars Jessie Buckley in the titular role, with Christian Bale playing the Monster. The story follows a visionary scientist, portrayed by Annette Bening, who resurrects a murdered woman to be the Monster’s companion. Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal are also part of the ensemble.
Gyllenhaal acknowledged the emotional undercurrent driving Frankenstein’s plea for companionship but questioned the imbalance at its heart. “I understand Frankenstein’s ask; he’s this very lonely, vulnerable man who is literally at a life-and-death degree of loneliness, saying, ‘Please, help me find someone to be with,’ but what about her? I mean, what about her? And that’s what this movie takes on.”
The Bride!, which releases in theatres on March 6, draws inspiration from the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein, itself adapted loosely from a subplot in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein. In Shelley’s original text, Victor Frankenstein is urged by his creation to fashion a mate. Troubled by visions of what such a pairing might unleash, including the possibility of a new race of monsters, he ultimately destroys the female creature before bringing her to life.
