Christian Bale’s new movie may be a hit or miss, depending on how you look at it.
The Bride! stars Bale opposite Jessie Buckley, with a supporting cast of Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Penélope Cruz. This is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s sophomore directorial feature, and well-timed to be the unofficial follow-up to Guillermo del Toro’s 2025 movie Frankenstein. Now, the critics’ thoughts on The Bride! have been revealed, indicating its box office chances.
The Bride! has debuted with a Tomatometer score of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, from 48 reviews so far, as of March 4. 2025’s Frankenstein set a high standard for adaptations of this iconic story, with its sweeping production design and 2026 Best Picture nomination, but the appeal of The Bride! is decidedly different, and people have varying opinions on how well it works.
Inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic novel and the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride! follows a murdered young woman (Buckley) who is raised from the dead to be Frankenstein’s monster’s (Bale) companion, leading to the two of them embarking on a crime spree of vigilante justice. The movie hits theaters just before the Oscars ceremony, where Buckley is widely expected to win Best Lead Actress for Hamnet.
In ScreenRant‘s The Bride! review, Gregory Nussen calls “Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second feature […] an explosive representation of social disruption. A screaming cry of a film […],” but also “a supremely romantic film about choosing to live even in the face of certain death.” But while they argue that the thriller blends social commentary and spectacle well, others critique its cohesiveness.
Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent, for instance, says that “Gyllenhaal has regrettably pulled a Frankenstein herself. All those ideas, yet they haven’t quite stitched up together to make a beautiful corpse.” Odie Henderson for The Boston Globe similarly comments that “Individual parts of The Bride! work, but as a whole, the critic in me found it confusing and irritating.“
The Bride! is one of two major releases coming this weekend, the other being Pixar’s new original feature Hoppers, which has an equally star-studded cast. Obviously, there is not much overlap between the two: The Bride! is an R-rated horror while Hoppers will be hoping to win over families going to the movies. While original animation and horror both face challenges, Hoppers is now projected to have a strong opening.
2025 was a year with some major horror box office success stories, with the original features Sinners and Weapons both doing very well commercially, upon a foundation of widespread critical acclaim. Based on these reviews, Gyllenhaal’s feature may not have what it takes to repeat this feat.
The Bride! will release in theaters on March 6, 2026.
- Release Date
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March 6, 2026
- Runtime
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126 Minutes
- Director
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Maggie Gyllenhaal