As far as horror cinema goes, there are few works quite as iconic and important as The Bride of Frankenstein, which could legitimately lay claim to being the greatest entry in the genre’s history. This film has remained as compelling and intriguing to this day as it was when it was released over ninety years ago. Needless to say, it has a strong reputation for the gold standard for horror – but despite the name of the film, the titular bride only appears on screen for a couple of minutes, a fact that Maggie Gyllenhaal has openly discussed as her impetus for making The Bride!, her incredibly offbeat and profoundly original adaptation – or perhaps freeform reinterpretation is the more appropriate word – of James Whale’s exceptional film. Keeping the same skeletal structure, namely that of Frankenstein’s Monster seeking out the help of a mad scientist to help him find a mate, and taking it in some wild directions, the film is a fascinating and daring piece of cinema that finds Gyllenhaal proving herself as a filmmaker (since her directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, was a bit of a misfire, and a film that doesn’t quite reach any particularly coherent narrative purpose), with this off-kilter, maximalist endeavour that will not appeal to everyone – but for those who can leap onto this film’s wavelength and understand exactly what it is doing, it is an experience like no other. This sumptuous, provocative existential odyssey is as audacious as it is angry. Gyllenhaal makes a strong case for herself as a director to watch, especially in how she blends style and substance into this peculiar gem of a film, a work of pure, unadulterated ambition that feels both earnest and deeply unhinged, a combination that is certainly quite rare, but which seems to be the perfect approach for such a story, which hinges almost entirely on a director who frequently and methodically challenges herself, as well as the audience, to look behind the artificial veneer and instead embrace the peculiar themes that drive this story forward and make it so incredibly compelling, and deeply deranged.

The Bride! is not a film that seems to be in the business of hiding its intentions – we can tell from the very first moments (when we are introduced to the spirit of Mary Shelley, who seems to be stuck in some kind of existential limbo) that this is going to be a film with a very strong feminist ideology, something that every bit of marketing has made abundantly clear, down to the decision to remove the name of the titular character’s partner, which factors into the story in very creative ways. For many people, this could be viewed as obtuse and borderline insufferable – after all, audiences don’t always like to be told what to think, especially when it comes to matters relating to gender and identity, which are the primary target of this film. However, Gyllenhaal is smart enough to not just reduce this story to the most obvious feminist tropes – she acknowledges them and is certainly not opposed to using them as the foundation for the narrative, but in ways that are a lot more creative and daring, which gives the film a very unique vision that we can appreciate in terms of how it presents itself as a subversion of the classic myth (and its many adaptations), as well as a number of additional themes that are bespoke to this film. The story is moved into the 1930s, and takes place in a variety of locations across the United States, becoming a demented road trip movie in which the two anti-heroes make their way across the country, wreaking havoc as they engage in the act of falling deeply in love with one another – only for the Bride to realise that she is not intended to be an individual, and by design (in terms of social and cultural expectations), she is always going to be the object of her partner, who may adore her, but who is the reason she will forever be tethered to a particular gender role. Gyllenhaal may not be the most subtle when it comes to exploring these themes, but her work is nonetheless quite sharp, especially in how she develops the film to be a much more intriguing affair, quietly and methodically working its way to a particular thematic destination, and having a lot of fun in the process.

The wonderful Minnie Driver once told a charming story about her time on The Phantom of the Opera, where a co-star criticised her for what they perceived as over-acting. In addressing this with the director, the always brilliant and sadly underpraised Joel Schumacher, she was told “no one pays for under-the-top”, which is not only a delightful memory in itself, but also a tremendous reminder that some performances benefit more from taking risks. It’s a perfect description for the work being done by Jessie Buckley in The Bride!, to the point where we have to wonder whether her performance was driven by the same sentiment. Buckley has more than proven herself capable of being subtle and nuanced when it is required – she’s got a strong body of work where she displays a quiet sensitivity. Yet, like any great actor, she’s also capable of delivering a performance in which she throws caution to the wind, creating a bold and unnerving depiction of a woman whose fury and despair manifest in every utterance, movement and gesture. By no means is this Buckley’s strongest work, but it is some of her most interesting – like Gyllenhaal, she’s working in a very different kind of register than what we’d expect, taking a few risks in how she develops this character and creating what is essentially a mascot for feminist rage and discomfort. It’s a fascinating performance that hits many very loud notes – she’s not playing to the rafters, but rather attempting to blow the roof off the entire theatre, and while this may be beyond frustrating to some viewers who are not adherents to this kind of off-the-wall performance, as Schumacher stated, some performances just need to be allowed to be over-the-top and excessive, and it is perfectly reasonable if there is method to the madness. Buckley is the focus, so much that even solid work by Christian Bale (who is known for his excess as well, but who still takes a very creative approach to personifying “Frankie”), Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, Annette Bening and a range of other exceptional actors barely register – and that all seems to be by design, with the entire cast being tremendous, proving that they can elevate the material in creative and meaningful ways while never distracting from the message right at the core of the film.

How much is audacity worth when it often comes at the expense of a cohesive story? In most instances, we’d assume this to be a case of a filmmaker realising that they don’t have much to say, and going out of their way to compensate in terms of style. However, in Gyllenhaal’s case, she wanted to make something as visually striking as it is narratively rich, which is where we find The Bride! truly thriving, perhaps even more than it does in terms of the story. The director has a keen eye for visuals, and the aesthetics of this film are remarkable – the way she recreates the 1930s is magnificent, in terms of both the broad strokes and the intricate details, both of which exist in tandem in the creation of what is essentially a series of episodic vignettes as the two protagonists embark on a cross-country trip in which they terrorise the people of the United States, while also radicalising the women to take matters into their own hands. This is where the film is at its best, when it is surrendering to the madness – like Buckley’s performance, we can judge The Bride! for doing too much, but in the process would be ignoring the fact that this is a film in which every detail was purposeful – Gyllenhaal was not trying to create something subtle or nuanced, but rather a film that defies categorisation (existing somewhere between romantic comedy and gothic horror, with broad overtures of science fiction and film noir thrown in for good measure), and which challenges the viewer to look beyond the confines of this particular story, and instead embrace the disquieting madness that lingers over every frame. This is a series of bold swings, many of which may seem bewildering at first – and it can sometimes be quite difficult to pinpoint – but which forces us to pay attention, which is the most important part of the film, since it is where we see Gyllenhaal’s skills truly starting to take shape.

Undeniably, The Bride! is going to be an acquired taste, a film that seems to possess an abundance of potential, but which will not work for every viewer, especially those who aren’t able to appreciate the bold swings that Gyllenhaal is taking when cobbling this film together. This is ultimately all part of the experience, and we can argue that it is malformed and far too ambitious for its own good – but as we’ve seen before, sometimes a risk is worthwhile when it produces results that stir conversation. Gyllenhaal is a fascinating filmmaker, and we have to wonder where her career behind the camera will lead – both of her directorial outings are so wildly different from each other than she seems to be actively resisting carving out a niche for herself (except the obvious thematic similarities that do prove to be her primary area of focus), and instead telling the stories that interest her, delivering messages that have some sincere meaning, even if they can be somewhat heavy-handed at some points. This is not going to be the film that gives her a blank cheque for her next directorial effort, but she truly doesn’t need it, since her audacity in creating something this unconventional is enough to make it clear that she’s someone worth observing. We can certainly appreciate the film for being willing to go to bat for a kind of maximalism that doesn’t exist in cinema all that much, and is in danger of going extinct, and while it may not be the smartest nor most decisive directorial statement, it nonetheless has a lot of value, and proves to be extraordinarily entertaining, even when it can sometimes feel like it is going in a few unwieldy directions from time to time, which is all swiftly resolved by a director whose whip-smart sensibility and willingness to challenge the status quo is her most valuable commodity, and one that anchors this tremendously captivating work that won’t appeal to everyone, but will certainly find an audience amongst those who love their cinema to be a little more unconventional.