Following her auspicious directorial debut with The Lost Daughter (2021), Maggie Gyllenhaal reunites with Jessie Buckley in this self-penned adaptation of James Whales’s classic The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Placing Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) in the unexpectedly glamorous setting of 1930s Chicago, it sees the monster searching for a companion, aided and abetted by Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening). The untimely death of Ida (Buckley) presents the perfect opportunity, but Ida, quickly adapting to her new circumstances, has her own agenda.

Notes by Kevin Coyne