I was skeptical watching the preview for Maggie Gyllenhall's "The Bride"! I did enjoy her directorial debut a while back, "The Lost Daughter" and I enjoy watching Christian Bale & Jessie Buckley. The preview did not grab me though and it actually looked awful, but I reserve judgement until I see the entire film.

It's an interesting concept. The ghost or spirit of Mary Shelley (the author of "Frankenstein") finds life & a vessel in a gangster's moll and wants to tell the story after "Frankenstein" but couldn't. So we have some inspiration from the book and the 1935 film, "The Bride Of Frankenstein". You also have Frankenstein's monster (named "Frank" here) trying to convince a re-animator to create a companion because he's been lonely for a century. When the gangster's moll dies, Frank and the re-animator (played by Annette Bening) bring her back to life and make her a living dead monster. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it turns into part "Bonnie & Clyde" gangster film, part gothic romance, part musical? Very interesting mix and blend of genres for sure. 

So what is Maggie trying to say & convey with this film? There's supposed to be a feminist empowerment message, also the theme of belonging and identity. Unfortunately there's too much going on with the plot and the messages that the film's trying to put across are not focused and it ends up being a jumbled mess. It's a beautiful mess for sure. Some brilliant and incredible shots are lost because the film just tries to do too much! If you want to listen to my SPOILER filled talk, then click on the link below!