THE BRIDE! Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jessie Buckley Reinvent Shelley | CinemaShock+ Pick

About this episode

The episode reviews 'THE BRIDE', a reimagining of a horror icon featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jessie Buckley, exploring themes of female agency and cinematic innovation.

A new kind of monster. 🗳️ The votes are in, and for the fourth month in a row, our CinemaShock+ members have dictated our cinematic diet. While the competition was stiff, the community decided it was time to dive into Maggie Gyllenhaal’s bold, 1930s-set reimagining of a horror icon. This week, we are reviewing THE BRIDE! Moving far beyond traditional Universal Monster tropes, Gyllenhaal delivers a punk-inflected, visually stunning expansion of the character that was introduced in James Whale's 1935 film. We discuss the powerhouse duo of Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley and how this film functions as both a 1930s gangster joyride and a subversion of the "created woman" narrative. Unlike the 1935 classic where she only appeared for a few silent minutes, this film finally gives the character a voice and agency all her own. Spoiler territory begins at 28:13. If you want to have a say in what we watch next month, join the community at CinemaShock+! Members get exclusive voting rights on our New Release reviews, plus access to our ongoing FIRE SHOCK WITH ME series covering TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN. Join now at cinemashock.net/plus Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We…

People in this episode

Hosts: Gary Horne, Justin Bishop

Topics covered

• horror film
• reimagining classic characters
• 1930s cinema
• female agency
• cinematic community voting
• subversion of narratives

Keywords

• THE BRIDE
• Maggie Gyllenhaal
• Jessie Buckley
• horror
• 1930s
• female empowerment
• cinema
• Christian Bale
• Universal Monsters
• TWIN PEAKS

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CinemaShock+

Books & works: THE BRIDE, TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN, James Whale's 1935 film

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