I maintain that if I’m going to end up watching a bad film, I would much prefer to watch a film that took risks, made bold choices, and shot the moon, as opposed to something that feels like a thousand other movies, and even in its benign state, still somehow managed to be an utter failure. If you can’t follow a formula, get out of the game. And, no, pandemic era War Of The Worlds was not taking risks. Locking Ice Cube in a room is the opposite of risk taking.

What is taking a risk is whatever the hell Maggie Gyllenhaal is trying to do and say with The bride, which was so bizarre, i watched it twice before even daring to review it. The first time through, I truly couldn’t tell if I enjoyed its audacity, or if it was one of those all that glitters situations. It is a mixed bag for me. Comparatively, Joker Folie Aux Deux takes big risks, but I’d rather watch The Bride again, though neither get a recommend, but both deserve more accolades than Renny Harlin’s Strangers trilogy.

Gyllenhaal has decided to start the film with Mary Shelly (Jessie Buckley) directly addressing the audience, talking about her story, her place in history, and how she still has something in her left to say. Then she possesses a woman, who dies, and is resurrected to be the Bride. The problem with this, is that Frankenstein’s creature is actually in this film. So, in a way I’m sure was never explained to Gyllenhaal, she created a paradox, where what Mary Shelley wrote is no longer a work of fiction, but rather a historical account of something that happened. Because, when you choose to put Mary Shelley in your film, and then have her be the catalyst for what comes next, by having her possess someone, it suggests Shelly is coming back from the spirit world to the present. if this was just another tale, she could remain a narrator, but her presence changes the entire game. It is one of the weirdest cases of a self-inflicted filmmaking wound I can remember. And that’s how we start. Gyllenhaal decided to start the film by pulling a “throwing out everything you think you know”, only to redefine Mary Shelley in the process.

The story mostly centers around Frank (Christian Bale), as he’s taken on the family name, looking for love. He finds a mad scientist (Annette Bening) willing to help, and when a young woman falls to her death, her freshly buried body becomes easy fodder for revival. That’s how we get The Bride (Jessie Buckley), a name she actually chooses for herself, despite the films heavy feminist tone.

You might be wondering how The Bride pushes back against feminism, because wasn’t Uma Thurman also “The Bride”? Yes. But she was a bride. The film explains that. Here, she willingly chooses The Bride before there’s a wedding or even a serious relationship. And, the connotation behind The Bride is that she has to be the Bride of someone, or something. She is instantly connected to a second part, even if the film centers on her.

One notable upswing is the drastic difference this reimagining actually has for The Bride, as her screentime is far more than what The Bride had in the original Universal monsters classic from the 30’s. She is the lead, and Frank follows. Frank is obsessed with cinema, and one movie star (Jake Gyllenhaal) in particular, so we see several scenes of him going to the theater.

There are also some bodies piling up, which brings a detective (Peter Sarsgaard) and his apprentice (Penelope Cruz) into the fray. They are totally unnecessary to the plot of the film, but it does have some nice payoff at least for Cruz, if they are required to be in this film.

Jessie Buckley, hot off her Oscar win for Hamnet, is actually not bad here. A lot of the acting gets wrapped up in unnecessary eccentricities, which is exactly where Buckley could end up. But, she manages to play essentially three very different people rather well. She is asked to do quite a bit, and delivers at least a worthwhile performance, in a film that just doesn’t work.

The Bride is tonally off, and Maggie Gyllenhaal seems to be chomping at the bit to say something about the strength of women and the idiocy of men. Frank is literally looking for a companion to have sex with, but he ends up with a fairly safe treatment, as nearly every other man is repulsive. There’s a rape scene in here that is so nonsensical. A police officer uses his position to force himself on The Bride, but literally out in the open, and with Frank in arms reach. He also just does it like it ain’t no thing, suggesting he’s done it a hundred times before.

The Bride and Frank are worshipped like a Bonnie and Clyde duo, with the emphasis on The Bride, and women taking their cues from her. It feels like an injection of me too, which is fine, if that was the direction of the movie. But this film is directionless, like a lost boat at sea trying to find a lighthouse. It has no North Star, so it wanders through thoughts Maggie had in her mind, which she had money to blow to make a spectacle of. Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter is far from my favorite film, but there’s nothing about the choices she makes there that suggest this is what she should be doing. It is the same folly we keep making, thrusting indie directors into blockbusters.

It almost never works. For someone to watch The Lost Daughter and then give her the money to make the Bride is insane, and a mistake that keeps happening.

The film does have some nice description from Deluxe, which in a film swinging this big, with this many visual elements in production, costume, makeup, and hair design, are important.The Bride wasn’t a complete and total wash for me, but I can only assess my end, and what I think. I can’t recommend this. It is too messy, disorganized, and cluttered with ideas that never quite focus together to make one coherent and great film. I’m hoping this is a learning experience for Gyllenhaal, who isn’t a bad director, but also didn’t need keys to the kingdom here either.

The Bride isn’t a total and utter waste of time, but it is unfocused enough to make it an experience not worth recommending.However, Jessie Buckley is still excellent, as this demands a lot from her.

Rotten: 4.0/10