The Bride! Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal Saves Cinema
Why The Bride! reminded me that great filmmaking still exists.
Maggie Gyllenhaal Is Saving the Movie Industry. And Jessie Buckley Is a Monster!
I watched The Bride! over two nights on Amazon Prime. Not because I wasn’t enjoying it. Quite the opposite. I was tired the first night, and I wanted to soak it all in. This was a film that deserved my attention.
And perhaps I’ve become like so many other American moviegoers. My mind has gotten lazy from decades of watching the same three-act screenwriting formula, the same recycled franchises, the same stories told over and over again.
Then along comes Maggie Gyllenhaal, swinging for the fences with artistic bravery-balls.
Thank God for artists who still want to make art.
Monsters, Movie Stars, and Magnificent Performances
Jessie Buckley plays the Bride of Frankenstein and Mary Shelley. Christian Bale plays Frankenstein’s monster, Frank.
And these two blew me away.
The depth with which they inhabited their respective monsters was Oscar-worthy. Their performances were frightening, heartbreaking, funny, and deeply human. Sometimes the monsters are the only characters who seem to understand what being human actually means.
And the supporting cast! Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, Julianne Hough, and John Magaro.
These are actors who know what it means to take artistic swings. They didn’t show up simply to collect a paycheck and deliver another predictable Hollywood product.
They came to make art.
The makeup, costumes, and production design are extraordinary. The cinematography makes it feel as though someone transported the cameras back to 1930s Chicago and started filming.
The world looks lived in. It has texture, character, grime, and glamour. It feels authentic even when everything happening on screen is gloriously impossible.
This is not some CGI piece of crap designed to overwhelm us with computer-generated spectacle.
This is cinema.
Jessie Buckley. Where Have You Been Hiding?
Of course, Jessie Buckley hasn’t been hiding anywhere.
She’s an accomplished Irish actress and singer whose career includes Beast, War & Peace, Taboo, and Fargo. She has earned major recognition across film, television, and theater, including an Academy Award, BAFTAs, a Golden Globe, and a Laurence Olivier Award.
I’d seen her before. But I didn’t recognize her in this film.
And that, to me, is the mark of a remarkable actor.
Some performers bring their celebrity into every role. We never quite forget who we’re watching.
Buckley disappears.
I wasn’t watching Jessie Buckley pretend to be a monster. I was watching a creature discover herself, her voice, her anger, her sexuality, and her humanity.
And Christian Bale meets her every step of the way.
What an extraordinary pairing.
Maggie Gyllenhaal and the Art of Taking Risks
Maggie Gyllenhaal is one more auteur giving us something we don’t even realize we’re starving for.
Original storytelling. Music. Visual imagination. A daring script. Actors willing to surrender themselves to the material.
And bravery-balls.
Yes, The Bride! draws from one of cinema’s most recognizable monsters. But Gyllenhaal isn’t interested in simply dusting off an old property and selling it back to us.
She takes the mythology and makes it her own.
That’s what artists do.
They don’t merely reproduce. They reinterpret, challenge, provoke, and create.
And sometimes they make us uncomfortable.
Good!
I don’t want every movie to make me comfortable. I don’t want every story to follow the same familiar path toward the same predictable ending.
I want to be surprised.
I want to have to think.
I want to see something that makes me wonder how on earth someone imagined it in the first place.
↓TRAILER↓
How I Killed My Mother
How I Killed My Mother is my memoir podcast about family, forgiveness, identity, humor, grief, caregiving, spirituality and the uncomfortable discovery that our parents sometimes make more sense after we begin repeating their mistakes.
Listen to the podcast and join my mailing list at HowIKilledMyMother.com for new stories, bonus material and updates about the upcoming memoir.
And ask yourself:
What did you once hate about your parents—only to hear yourself saying or doing the exact same thing years later?
Hollywood, Please Stop Making the Same Damn Movies
I hate what has happened to so much of original film and television.
Producers, networks, studios, and the powers that be seem increasingly determined to make only what already has name recognition.
Another remake. Another reboot. Another sequel. Another franchise.
Another opportunity to sell us something we’ve already purchased.
I say outlaw remakes!
All right, perhaps that’s a little extreme. Especially since I’m writing this love letter to a filmmaker who has just reinvented Frankenstein.
But there’s a difference between reimagining a story and merely recycling it.
If the original movie is wonderful, encourage people to watch it. Introduce a new generation to the filmmakers who created it.
And then make something new.
Our minds need originality. Our imaginations need to be exercised. And our creative industries need to make room for creative creators.
Otherwise, we’re simply training audiences to expect less.
Why This Matters to Me as a Writer
I’ve spent years writing original stories.
Some are funny. Some are dark. Some are outrageous. Some are deeply personal. And some are inspired by experiences that seem too unbelievable to be true.
I’ve written about hairdressers, the Mafia, gay nightlife, mothers, forgiveness, ambition, loss, and reinvention.
And yes, I’ve imagined some of those stories becoming films or television series.
Watching The Bride! reminded me why that dream still matters.
There are filmmakers who believe audiences are capable of more. Who trust us to follow unusual characters into unfamiliar territory. Who understand that storytelling isn’t merely about delivering a product.
It’s about creating an experience.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s body of work inspires me because she clearly believes in the intelligence and imagination of her audience.
And because of artists like her, perhaps someday my own original stories will find their way onto a screen.
Wouldn’t that be something?
In the meantime, I’ll keep writing. And I’ll keep celebrating the filmmakers who remind me why I fell in love with storytelling in the first place.
Thank you, Maggie Gyllenhaal. And thank you, Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale.
You made me remember what movies can be.
— Jon-David, The Mafia Hairdresser
Explore More
Novels by Jon-David
Discover the compelling stories of the Mafia Hairdresser in our exclusive book collection.
Jon-David & Goliath True Crime Podcast (Season 3)
5-part Series about corporate fraud that cost this author/hairdresser his savings, him home, and career. 2024 Podcast
Season 1 & 2 The Mafia Hairdresser Chronicles
Dive into the heart of Southern California during the flashy 1980s with our Comedy Serial Podcast
“A poignant and sometimes hilarious deep dive into love, mortality, and the spiritual journeys we never expected to take. Follow Jon-David as he navigates living with his father, who has Parkinson’s, and his mission to help him confront the fears he’s spent a lifetime avoiding.”
Coming Jan 2026
Sign up for My Email list to hear when this podcast comes out.
