Believe it or not, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride is already infamous. The horror romance, which is Gyllenhaal’s second movie as director, digs into the relationship between Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) and his love (Jessie Buckley), a murdered woman brought back to life by Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) when the monster goes looking for a companion.
The film was originally scheduled to debut this fall, but earlier this year, Warner Bros. pushed it back to March 2026. The shift came after reports emerged claiming The Bride earned negative responses from test screenings, creating a narrative that it would be a pricey misstep. At one point while in the works at Netflix, its budget was $100 million, though now the number has drifted to $80 million.
With little to go on in the months since, and another Frankenstein movie looming from Guillermo del Toro, The Bride has remained a huge question mark in the minds of film fanatics. Now, the first trailer has been released, and it looks like The Bride is gleefully leaning into its notorious reputation — which should be the thing that saves it.
The Bride Isn’t Hiding Its Distinct Idenтιтy, And That’s Thrilling
If not handled properly, behind-the-scenes drama can taint a movie before it even comes out. As seen just a few years ago with Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling — the victim of a different kind of background drama — the actual quality of a film and the conversation surrounding it can be overshadowed by the narrative that precedes it.
In The Bride‘s case, the early conversation already put forth the idea that it’ll be poorly received. Reportedly, there’s concern among executives that it’s “too arthouse“ and can’t be neatly placed into a particular genre. However, I’d argue that this is exactly why we should be excited about it, and Warner Bros.’ most recent movies prove it.
In 2025, the studio has found immense success with films from strong auteurs that straddle genres. Ryan Coogler’s historical epic Sinners is also a vampire horror movie, while Zach Cregger’s Weapons mixes scares and humor. Both became incredibly successful financially and critically, and they’ve helped to propel Warner Bros. to a landmark year.
With The Bride, it looks like Gyllenhaal is embracing the chaos and horror of the premise with a story that finds Buckley’s character and Frankenstein’s monster going on a romantic, twisted crime spree. So far, those initial reactions sound right — that premise is difficult to pin down. And that means its potential is sky-high, because it can truly be anything it wants.
The Bride‘s trailer goes all-in on this. Rather than explaining the plot in a straightforward manner, it focuses instead on the film’s tone and imagery, effectively conveying the madness and violence of the central relationship. It’s clearly meant to shock audiences and stir up conversation; it even drops an f-bomb in big, bold letters.
A good trailer doesn’t always translate to a good movie, and one could easily come away from this turned off by what Gyllenhaal is selling. On some level, it feels reminiscent of Warner Bros.’ own Joker: Folie à Deux, which famously flamed out in 2024. There is a very real chance The Bride could do the same.
But so far, this appears to be a movie with a clear idenтιтy that aims to be something new and bold at a time when studios frequently take the safer bet. The Bride might be an epic disaster, but it’s one we should all look forward to checking out for ourselves, if only because we might come away feeling something unexpected and thrilling. Isn’t that what we want out of our movies?
