The Bride! has now secured a rating from the MPA, and it continues a growing trend among monster movies. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the upcoming film is a new take on The Bride of Frankenstein, following Frankenstein’s monster as he works with Dr. Euphronius to create a lover for himself out of a murdered woman in 1930s Chicago.
Bale stars in The Bride! as Frankenstein’s monster, with Jessie Buckley playing the тιтular bride. The star-studded film also includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, and Annette Bening, among others.
Ahead of the film’s planned March 2026 release, the MPA has now given The Bride! an R rating, per FilmRatings.com. The upcoming Frankenstein movie earned the rating for “strong/bloody violent content, Sєxual content/nudity and language.”
What This Means For The Bride!
The Bride! isn’t the only upcoming take on Marry Shelley’s iconic source material. Director Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, a Netflix collaboration, is arriving this November. Del Toro’s movie, which stars Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s monster, has also secured an R rating, but purely for “bloody violence and grisly images.”
These R ratings continue a trend in the world of classic monster movies. Wolf Man (2025), for example, also carried an R primarily for its violence, as did Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), a recent take on the Dracula story. These two R-rated movies followed The Invisible Man (2020), which also carried an R.
R ratings allow filmmakers to push the violence and mature themes further, but it also means the audience is a little more limited. Often, R-rated movies are made at lower budget levels to account for this, but Gyllenhaal’s movie carries a hefty reported budget in the neighborhood of $100 million. This makes it a fairly significant theatrical gamble.
Given The Bride!‘s rating, audiences can seemingly expect quite a graphic take on Frankenstein. This includes not only violence, which is a common sight in these kinds of monster movies, but also Sєxual content and nudity. The romantic nature of this story speaks to how these elements could factor in.
Our Take On The Bride!’s R Rating
No trailer has been released for the upcoming Frankenstein movie just yet, meaning it’s not yet clear just how far Gyllenhaal will push the envelope in terms of the adult themes and content. The Bride! footage screened at CinemaCon, however, and the film is shaping up to be a bloody affair, which seems fitting.
While the story of Frankenstein is familiar, the romantic elements and the focus on the monster’s bride are elements that can set it apart. An R rating will allow Gyllennhaal to perhaps explore themes relating to romance in a deeper and more mature way. Many questions remain about The Bride!, but audiences should evidently expect a Frankenstein tale purely for adults.
