We always caution our readers to be at least somewhat wary of the first reactions to any movie, and the full reviews for The Bride! are a perfect example of why it's always best to wait until the embargo lifts for a more balanced consensus.
While the reactions were mostly glowing, the reviews are decidedly more mixed, and quite a lot of them lean negative.
Even so, Maggie Gyllenhaal's direction comes in for high praise, as does the filmmaker's decision to take some "big swings" (you're going to read those words a lot in these reviews), even if not all of them pay off. The performances are also said to elevate the material, although not everyone was taken in by Jessie Buckley's turn as the titular Bride.
The Bride! is currently sitting at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 61 reviews.
From Maggie Gyllenhaal (Academy Award-nominated writer/director of The Lost Daughter) and starring Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley and Academy Award winner Christian Bale comes THE BRIDE! A bold, iconoclastic take on one of the world’s most compelling stories.
"A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!"
The film stars Buckley, Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, with Bening, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, and Oscar winner Penélope Cruz. Maggie Gyllenhaal directs from her own screenplay and produces alongside Oscar nominee Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Talia Kleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman Keren. The executive producers are Carla Raij, David Webb and Courtney Kivowitz.