The Modern Medusa – – The Bride! – – (2026, USA, Color 126 min) – – 7 March 2026

Recommended. So, is The Bride! a chick flick? I ask this without irony because the reviews of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s (The Lost Daughter) spectacular new movie are strongly gendered: 74% of the female Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes liking it, with only 38% of the dudes certify it “fresh.” I loved it. The energy and humor of the film are delightful and like the recent Frankenstein . . . Mary Shelly’s major themes are preserved. We all know that Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) can go over-the-top dramatically but here, her physicality is almost a second actress. Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari) is more tender and thoughtful but provides a complementary tone. Annette Bening (Nyad) plays the Bride’s creator. Penelope Cruz (Volver) and Peter Sarsgaard (September 5) provide an underdeveloped, but important, subplot, as detectives tracking the murderous pair . . . and there’s a LOT of gory murder herein. My only criticism: it’s almost too much to absorb.