A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman, and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!

Maggie Gyllenhaal by Way of Mary Shelley

Gothic horror is having a serious moment right now, but instead of simply revisiting familiar ground, Gyllenhaal goes straight to the source: the legacy of Mary Shelley and her immortal creation, Frankenstein. Yet rather than reverently retreading the path of Bride of Frankenstein, Gyllenhaal detonates the mythos and rebuilds it with swagger and rebellion.

The result is a film that feels less like a traditional monster movie and more like a punk-rock fever dream — a collision of gothic horror, tragic romance, and anarchic crime saga. Gyllenhaal isn’t carefully sampling genres; she’s smashing them together with gleeful abandon. The result is a cinematic cocktail with a kick like jet fuel. If you like your cinema bold, loud, and unapologetically strange, THE BRIDE! absolutely delivers.

Gothic Horror Goes Gangster in Depression-Era Chicago

One of the film’s boldest moves is its setting. Rather than haunting castles and misty moors, Gyllenhaal drags the gothic into the smoky back alleys and neon-splashed underworld of Depression-era Chicago. It’s a setting that pulses with grime, danger, and temptation — the perfect breeding ground for monsters who refuse to stay buried.

Working with cinematographer Lawrence Sher, Gyllenhaal crafts a visual landscape that is nothing short of electric. Neon lights slash across the screen while deep noir shadows swallow entire city blocks. The imagery feels half gangster thriller, half gothic hallucination, and it works brilliantly.

There’s an intoxicating sense of chaos to the film’s atmosphere, pulling viewers into the reckless spiral of two resurrected souls determined to live hard and burn fast. Every frame feels alive with tension and attitude.

Adding even more texture is the striking score from Hildur Guðnadóttir. Her music swirls between eerie orchestration and pulsating modern energy, giving the film a sonic backbone that perfectly matches its rebellious tone.

Jessie Buckley’s Bride Is Pure Controlled Chaos

At the heart of the film is the electrifying performance of Jessie Buckley as the Bride herself, and she absolutely owns the screen.

Brought back to life by the ambitious scientist Dr. Euphronious (played with delicious authority by Annette Bening), Buckley’s Bride has no intention of being treated like a laboratory curiosity. Instead, she becomes the one asking questions, and causing plenty of chaos along the way.

Buckley plays the role with what can only be described as controlled mayhem. Her Bride is impulsive, rebellious, and burning with a long list of grievances against the world that destroyed her the first time around. She’s alive again, and she’s determined to make every second count.

It’s a fearless, magnetic performance that balances vulnerability with explosive energy. Buckley, already widely celebrated for her powerhouse turn in Hamnet, proves once again that she’s one of the most dynamic performers working today. Here she doesn’t just inhabit the Bride; she sets the character on fire.

Christian Bale’s Monster Finds His Match

Matching Buckley beat for beat is Academy Award winner Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s Monster — or simply “Frank,” as he calls himself.

Bale takes a fascinating approach to the character. His Monster is not merely a creature of brute force, but a deeply wounded soul who has spent decades wandering through a world that greets him with nothing but fear and rejection. Beneath the scars and rage lies a desperate longing for connection — for someone who might finally see him as more than a monster.

When the Bride enters his life, the spark is immediate.

Bale balances tragic vulnerability with volcanic anger, capturing both the humanity and the terrifying power of the creature. His performance gives the film emotional weight, grounding its wilder moments with genuine heartbreak. Together, Buckley and Bale ignite the screen. Their chemistry is strange, volatile, and unexpectedly tender — the beating heart of a story about two outcasts discovering something dangerously close to love.

A Wild, Electric Ride

Ultimately, THE BRIDE! is a film that refuses to behave. It’s loud, stylish, weird, romantic, and gloriously over the top; a cinematic mosh pit where gothic horror collides with punk attitude and gangster swagger.

The film barrels forward with manic momentum, building toward a finale that feels like a lightning strike to the nervous system. By the time the final surge of electricity hits, audiences are left exhilarated and slightly shell-shocked.

Final Verdict: Dark, Dangerous & Defiantly Alive

For viewers looking for something safe and traditional, THE BRIDE! may feel like a shock to the system. But for those willing to embrace its wild spirit, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s monster romance is an unforgettable experience. THE BRIDE! proves that sometimes the monsters deserve their love story — and sometimes that love story comes with a killer soundtrack and a criminal streak.

Image: Warner Brother Pictures

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Ready yourself for a whirlwind explosion of monsters, chaos and the golden age of film noir horror, as Maggie Gyllenhaal dials up the volts and delivers an utter livewire with THE BRIDE! her punk rock resurrection tale of death and the afterlife as she jolts new life into The Bride of Frankenstein, and in the process delivers a spectacle that will be one of cinema’s wildest spectacles.

Watch the all-new trailer for THE BRIDE! below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman, and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!

In a radical reimagining of the legendary character of The Bride of Frankenstein, first portrayed by Elsa Lanchester in 1935, director Maggie Gyllenhaal discovers a whole new side of the character through Jessie Buckley. And what is promised by this new trailer is a cinema experience that utterly flaunts what you know of this character, and kicks convention and expectation out the window.

In wanting to tell the story of THE BRIDE!, Gyllenhaal sought to get discover ‘the monster inside all of us’, and was intrigued to discover more about the Bride herself, what her own thoughts, dreams and terrors might be, and you see that present in the new trailer as this is a character who is thrown into a storm, and then embraces all the fun, mania ans chaos that results from being the walking dead!

Not only do we get to see Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale amp things up as both The Bride and Frankenstein’s Monster in the picture, but THE BRIODE! turns the volume all the way up on its presentation and spectacle, as it takes audiences back to a neon-soaked 1936 era of gangsters and troublemakers, and Gyllenhaal bedazzles the movie with its own flair and combustible atmosphere that is reminiscent of the hard-driving punk rock of the 1970s, and it’s a scream!

Giving further context to audiences with Perri Nemiroff in a recent webinar chat concerning THE BRIDE!, Gyllenhaal stated that if audiences wanted to understand the mood and presence that’s she’s bringing to this picture that they should listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees cover of Iggy Pop’s ‘The Passenger’, and that this song evokes her feeling for the character of The Bride, saying “because just vibe-wise, I think it fits right in with the movie. And also, I don’t know, she’s presented, The Bride, The Bride of Frankenstein, as the passenger when that is absolutely not what she is. She’s driving this story.”

THE BRIDE! is shaping up to be a cinematic storm of radical neo-noir horror, and audiences will be primed for something very special when it arrives in IMAX and cinemas on March 5.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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Watch the crazy all-new trailer for THE BRIDE! below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!

Taking audiences into the raging, free-spirited and rough and tumble gangster era of 1930s America, Gyllenhaal spins a all-new take on Bride of Frankenstein and the Frankenstein mythos as she pumps up the volume, and delivers a gothic-tinged modern tale that is piure Bonnie & Clyde with a good mix of traumatic Sid & Nancy toxic romance thrown in, and THE BRIDE! is shaping up to be one of 2026’s wildest releases!

With its exuberant lighting, flowing costuming, and completely rated-R violence and intensity, THE BRIDE! is a feature that will really give audiences a shock, and they’re not going to be ready for what arrives in this film. The focus of the trailer is on Jessie Buckley, the Irish actress who has taken the performing world by storm, and who, following her Academy Award-nominated performance in Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, is now being tipped to be an Oscar frontrunner again with 2026’s Hamnet.

Buckley goes utterly crazy in THE BRIDE!, and she fully commits to this resurrected character who is pulled into a dark, dangerous and deranged world not of her choosing, and she really turns up the volume in terms of performance. Her performance is juxtaposed with that of Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster, now calling himself Frankie, who pulls the Bride into his savage life…. and it’s clear that there won’t be a lot of sympathy coming Frank’s way, as it appears he’s not a full-on monster.

 

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Get ready for the unexpected and a whole heap of utterly wild and crazy moments when THE BRIDE! arrives in cinemas next year in March 2026.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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Three friends — a doctor, a nurse, and an attorney — become the prime suspects in a murder in the 1930s, and at the centre of one of the most shocking secret plots in American history

When it comes to modern cinema one of the artforms’ most intriguing and innovative voices belongs to David O. Russell. A clever and calculating writer-director, Russell has continued to hold onto his independent voice, along with finding a place to work within the studio system, and his films always offer audiences something different in relation to narrative. Now with Amsterdam, Russell returns to cinemas with his first film since 2015’s Joy, and this multi-character mystery comedy thriller is a real treat for audiences who are seeking something different and entirely quirky.

While the less that is said about Amsterdam’s plot line, the better for audiences, this is a unique set period comedy-thriller that throws in plenty of twists, turns and conspiracies and uses all of its scenery and space to its advantage. Russell takes his time with the narrative and dives intimately back and forth with his three unique lead characters, Dr Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale), a doctor with a glass eye and WWI veteran, Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie), a nurse and conceptual artist, and Harold Woodsman (John David Washington), a lawyer and fellow WWI veteran who served alongside Berendsen. The extensive exploration and set-up of the film’s narrative verisimilitude are of the utmost importance to Amsterdam, and the shocking twists that reveal themself right in the middle of the picture make for one massive punch. And it’s one hell of a wallop. Mixed in is some terrific dry humour, and fans looking for a story that will keep them guessing are well rewarded with Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is a film driven by character, and Russell delivers to audiences some of the most original characters to arrive on screen. Christian Bale is an absolute scene stealer as Dr Burt Berendsen, a physician who is a little too eager to take his own medicine but who carries a massive conscience and adherence to duty. Margot Robbie is thoroughly off-the-walls as nurse turned artist Valerie Voze and she’s extremely experimental in the performance that she brings to the screen and her off-beat quirks will raise a few eyebrows. Bringing this trio together is John David Washington as the stoic and gentlemanly Harold Woodsman, who adheres to a strict code of ethics, and who cuts a very sharp figure when he appears on the screen. Bale, Robbie, and Washington feed off of each other’s performances, completely disappearing into their characters, with this marking Amsterdam out as a refreshing watch.

The supporting cast also gets top marks, and the adherence to character results in some very fun moments on screen. Rami Malek and Anya Taylor-Joy make for a great pair as married couple Tom and Libby Voze, and both get to play against type which gives each of them plenty of bewitching moments, with this especially applying to Taylor-Joy who gives a total 180-degree performance. Veteran performers Mike Myers and Michael Shannon bring their own quirkiness as complementary partners who are a real ‘odd-couple’ pairing in the best way possible. Then there’s celebrated legend Robert DeNiro who is again perfectly cast as General Gil Dillenbeck, and he brings his own special magic to the project.

There’s a lot going on throughout Amsterdam, and this is an incredibly smart, inventive and unique piece of cinema. With this film we see Russell swinging for the fences and working actively to do something different with a mix match of genres, and it makes for an intriguing watch. Audiences seeking a thoroughly intellectual cinema experience will be pleased with this film and its attention to detail and pace mark it out as something distinctive and idiosyncratic.

Amsterdam is a singular film of vision, and its craft and creation are sure to entice audiences who are curious about something a little bit different.

Image: 20th Century Studios

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Based on the true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles (Bale), who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

With Ford v Ferrari, director James Mangold (Logan, Walk The Line) puts everything up on the big screen here and the result is a film of incredible vision and scope as he tells the ultimate story of David vs Goliath. Placing his audience right on the front line of the race tracks of the mid-1960s, Mangold tells a gripping story of two men, intrepid race car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and maverick driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) as they did the impossible and tried to dethrone Ferrari as the king of Le Mans. With his film, Mangold captures the very essence of the macho competitiveness of the track and it makes for one hell of a rush. His work on Ford v Ferrari is a love letter to the power of racing and those who give their lives to proving that there’s no limit to how fast you can go.

In making this film it’s clear that Mangold had one burning vision: to place his audience right at the heart of the action. And he does just that. The film’s racing scenes are sharp, swift and charged with adrenaline, and Mangold and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael place the action right at the heart of the car chases and crank up the acceleration. Whether it’s the arching corners of Daytona or the power of the Mulsanne Straight, which Christian Bale’s Ken Miles repeatedly guns down, again and again, Mangold absolutely goes for it and there are plenty of moments where you’ll be holding your breath. I can’t remember a piece of cinema that captures the essence of the racing experience quite like Ford v Ferrari, and the throttle doesn’t let up for a moment.

Mangold has assembled one hell of a talented cast for this one and leading the pack is superstar Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, the legendary automotive designer who was charged to achieve the impossible. Damon’s Shelby is a straight-up Cowboy, and the actor nails Shelby’s iconic Texas twang and is an absolute force of nature here. Comprised of plenty of spark and compelling charisma, Shelby is full-on in his approach to racing and after being tasked by the deuce himself, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) to beat Ferrari on the Le Mans track he goes for it with everything he’s got. Damon has a lot of fun in the role of Shelby and he jives well with Bale’s Miles and their pairing makes for one amazing dream team.

Placed directly in the driver’s seat of Ford v Ferrari is revered thespian Christian Bale as Ken Miles, a WWII veteran and maverick driver who isn’t one to play by the rules and who likes to do things his own way. A mercurial character in every sense of the word, Miles is a god behind the wheel, and his obsession with speed and a need for the constant pursuit of excellence makes him Shelby’s choice to take on the Le Mans track. Bale once again morphs his personal character into that of Miles and he’s committed to the part. Not only does he get some time behind the wheel here, but he brings to life the concentration and force of will that makes a champion. He works well beside Damon and you’re constantly smiling thanks to his antics both on and off the track.

With Damon’s Shelby as the brains and Bale’s Miles as the action, the vision of Ford v Ferrari arrives on screen in the form of Jon Bernthal’s Lee Iacocca, a sharp-suited, silver-tongued Ford executive who has a vision and who sees Shelby and Miles as Ford’s way to defeat Ferrari head on at Le Mans. In the role of Iacocca, Bernthal turns in a straight-up cool performance and his slick-talking style gives the film plenty of energy. Bernthal is very much the middle man of the film and acts as the go-between between Shelby and Ford Motors. While he’s got his own battles to fight in the hallways of Ford, he’s the ally that Shelby and Miles need to win this historic race and he does a damn fine job here with his performance.

In terms of its style, Ford v Ferrari is a true underdog story of mythic proportions and Mangold captures the essence of this on-screen. He showcases the impossibility of the task ahead of Shelby and Miles in just how the hell can these guys beat Ferrari with a Ford. Mangold takes us through all the steps as these men build out their plan of attack and step by step, through creativity and ingenuity build up a team and a car, in the now-famous Ford GT40, to take on the track and beat Ferrari at their own game. Gear heads will love the detail that Mangold goes into here within the film, as he takes audiences behind the scenes of how this grand car was conceived and then built to win.

Alongside its gripping tale of motorized competition, Ford v Ferrari also has some serious style to it, and Mangold revels in letting this shine through. Set during the zenith of the 1960s, Ford v Ferrari is packed out with the uber macho cool of the decade and this is recognized through everything from production design and wardrobe, along with the film’s thumping soundtrack which is filled out with classic tunes from the era. All of it builds up a portrait that is easy to lose yourself in and amps up the film’s considerable drama and the action that unfurls from there.

But alongside it’s pumping action scenes and slick production style, Ford v Ferreri is ultimately the story of friendship and brotherhood that is shared between two men. Through their competitive spirit and desire to win, Shelby and Miles form a unique partnership and pairing in this film, and Mangold’s story examines how the two of them came together to be champions and the friendship that is at the heart of this. Both of these men truly trust each other and are willing to go all the way to prove that they can indeed win out in the end and Mangold’s film is a testament to the power that we get when we trust in others and work together for a greater goal.

Ford v Ferrari is filmmaking on a whole other level and those who witness it need to view it on the biggest screen possible. This is an incredible piece of cinema to behold and from its direction to performances, style and on-the-edge track action race scenes, all of it will spin you around for one amazing lap.

Image: Ford v Ferrari

The post ‘Ford v Ferrari’ – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the edgy first trailer below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Based on the true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles (Bale), who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

Director James Mangold (Logan, Walk The Line) is returning to cinemas and I couldn’t be more happier with his latest project in the form of the uber macho, ultra cool tale of man and automobile in Ford v. Ferrari, and the colossal story of two mavericks: British racer Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and American designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) who went to war against Ferrari on the legendary track of Le Mans to prove who was top dog in the world of racing.

Set to the tune of The Rolling Stones quintessentially cool song ‘Gimme Shelter’, this first trailer for Ford v. Ferrari buzzes with energy and really gets your heart going thanks to Mangold’s magnificent direction, two stellar performances from his lead stars and a whole lot of track pushing racing!

Keeping to the same style that he first cemented with Logan, Mangold has kept everything in camera and all of the danger on the track is 100% real! With dynamic cinematography and plenty of outlandish wrecks, Mangold wants to give audiences the experience of just how dangerous and addictive the track of Le Mans is and from what I’ve seen here the director has truly succeeded.

Ford v. Ferrari is cinema that’s straight out on the edge and you can prepare yourself for one hell of an adrenaline charged time when this epic piece of sports history comes rolling into cinemas on November 14.

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Vice is the story of Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.

Director Adam McKay has a taste for the satirical and his talent is in capturing a subject and uplifting all of its edges to find the harshest, most unbelievable story at its core and then delivering them to his audience. We saw his satirical scalpel at work with his sharp-eyed critique of America’s financial system in The Big Short and now he seeks to examine the nation’s political machine at work and the evils that lay at its center. And what he delivers is unbelievable. From the beginning, McKay skirts the line between facts and narrative and his ability to use the satirical to his advantage makes this narrative all the more compelling. But as things ramp up and we begin to see the satire fade away, we instead find ourselves in a political horror movie that is far scarier than The Silence of the Lambs ever could be. Vice is satirical comedy at its most extreme and McKay pulls you left and right at every occasion.

Forming the focus of Vice is a unique character study of one Dick Cheney, 46th Vice President of the United States, and a man who comes to be the ultimate political figure in a transformative performance from actor Christian Bale. With Bale, we see a complete character arc in play here in Vice, with Cheney beginning as nothing more than a ne’er-do-well, shit-kicking dirtbag, who then suddenly finds himself charged with purpose and on the course to better himself. But while you think you’ll see the triumphant story of a political hero in play, what we actually get is a character whose unrelenting hunger, both physically and metaphorically, unleashes in him a desire for absolute power that can only be fed by greed and wickedness and results in a thoroughly dangerous and completely reprehensible life.

In short, it’s an utterly miraculous performance by Christian Bale of a character who is presented as the ultimate villain. Just when you think that Cheney cannot possibly fall further into the depths of degradation to obtain his ultimate goal, well he proves you wrong. If Richard the Third and Darth Vader could find an apprentice to teach their dark arts to then Cheney would be their guy, and in the end, would completely outdo both of their evil. And you won’t believe what is going on before your eyes. The brilliance of such a performance comes back to Bale and his commitment to the character because he gives a truly shocking performance here.

They say that behind every great man there’s an even greater woman, and for Dick Cheney in Vice this absolutely rings true thanks to Amy Adams as his wife Lynne. With a determination and ruthlessness that exceeds that of her husband, Lynne is the perfect woman for Dick and she is the ultimate architect of her husband’s rise to power. It is she who gives him the ultimatum to change his life and it is she that encourages his pursuit of the Republican Dream and it is she that ultimately paves the way for his own inner monster to come out.

Adams is sharp and focused in the role and extremely quick on her feet and her every step seems to be led by her desire to elevate her family to the highest tier of American life. Of the two of them Lynne is painted in my mind as the far more patriotic of the Cheney’s and while her ambitions have the air of nobility, her husband’s come to represent an interior desire to realise his own ambitions even above the good of America. Adams is perfectly cast in the role and her chemistry and relationship with Bale really shine through in her performance.

Finally, Sam Rockwell lends his talents to that of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and his performance leads to a hysterical turn of events. Rockwell’s Bush is a completely Cowboy character, a wisecracking good’ol boy who has walked into the family business but isn’t aware that he’s just the puppet. McKay’s focus on Bush is ultimately a vicious one, but thanks to Rockwell’s performance we can’t help but want to see him at every turn. In terms of performance, Rockwell is spot on with his characterization of the former President and he channels an innate charisma and cool that completely wins you over.

While Vice is satire in action, it’s also a scathing presentation that vividly paints the Republican party in every shade of red imaginable. While you could call it a political horror movie, its level of satire and comedy continually throws you about as an audience member and you truly begin to wonder whether you can believe what is unfolding before you. It’s simply that absurd. Seeking to outdo himself at every turn, Cheney and his minions continue to sink to new lows no matter the cost, and just when you think he’ll find his comeuppance he sails through and wins out, profiting in the fallout. Vice might be shocking, but it’s shockingly good and anyone who has the chance to see it will be treated to a masterwork in both direction and performance.

If you’re seeking an exceptional cinematic experience then Vice is the film to give it to you. Loaded with its own sharp humour and an incredible performance from its cast Vice is a film that really gets under your skin and captures a unique snapshot of history that was ultimately the doing of one man.

Source: EOne Films

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