{"id":320311,"date":"2026-03-09T07:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/320311\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T07:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:40:11","slug":"christian-bales-new-r-rated-monster-film-is-dividing-critics-audiences-on-rotten-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/320311\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Bale’s New R-Rated Monster Film Is Dividing Critics & Audiences On Rotten Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

With The Bride!<\/a> in theaters, moviegoers have reached their verdict on Frankenstein (Christian Bale) and his titular lover (Jessie Buckley).<\/p>\n

Just ahead of the release, The Bride! reviews<\/a> were polarizing about the latest Frankenstein tale, which follows a murdered woman revived by renowned monster and scientist, Cornelia Euphronious (Annette Bening). Although director Maggie Gyllenhaal doesn\u2019t pull back on a stunning visual take on a Gothic romance, the biggest criticism was the messy script and chaotic tonal shifts, which made the film unfocused and disjointed.<\/p>\n

However, the voice that matters the most is that of moviegoers, and the verdict is in. Based on over 500 verified ratings, The Bride! has secured a solid 74% audience score, a stark contrast with the critics\u2019 score of a \u201crotten\u201d 59% on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

\"Christian
\n Christian Bale as Frankie looking at Jessie Buckley as The Bride<\/p>\n

Many viewers expressed that the brutally violent reimagination is a thrilling and engaging ride and appreciated the blending of horror and noir for a fresh approach to the iconic story. Some critics and audiences criticized the feminist take as being poorly executed, but Gyllenhaal\u2019s direction is described as daring and unconventional. Buckley and Bale\u2019s performances were also praised, as their chemistry is described as a monster version of Bonnie and Clyde outlaws.<\/p>\n

The divisive reception of The Bride! shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise, however. In March 2025, concerns about the movie were reported by Puck, as early test screenings were described as negative and messy. Claims indicated that the Frankenstein-inspired adaptation<\/a> was difficult to categorize, which aligns with the post-release responses.<\/p>\n

Despite getting a seal of approval from audiences, unfortunately, that won\u2019t be enough to help with the movie\u2019s success. Given the whopping $80 million budget, The Bride! earned just $7.3 million domestically and $13.6 million globally. That means the film ended Warner Bros.\u2019s nine-movie streak of debuting at No. 1 at the domestic box office after the new release was second behind Disney\u2019s Hoppers. In a greater misfortune, it\u2019s also deemed a box office bomb.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Netflix was originally involved with The Bride! before Warner Bros. swept up the project with a high budget. According to the Wall Street Journal, there were monetary disagreements. The report detailed that Gyllenhaal wanted to film in New York, while Netflix preferred New Jersey since it was cheaper.<\/p>\n

Despite letting go of The Bride!, Netflix still had a hand in adapting the Mary Shelley story with Guillermo del Toro\u2019s Frankenstein. In contrast, his movie received positive reviews and has earned several Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, thedisappointing box office of The Bride! will sting for Warner Bros., but it shouldn\u2019t hurt the studio too much, especially in light of the Paramount merger. Plus, this won\u2019t be the end of the modern reimagination of the classic story<\/a> to find some success and potential redemption on streaming. Currently, there are no confirmed details on when it will be released on HBO Max.<\/p>\n

In addition to Bale and Buckley, The Bride! cast features Peter Sarsgaard, Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Pen\u00e9lope Cruz. Maggie Gyllenhaal also wrote the script, which was inspired by the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein.<\/p>\n

The Bride! is now playing in theaters.<\/p>\n

\"01733289_poster_w780.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarch 6, 2026<\/p>\n

Runtime<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t126 Minutes<\/p>\n

Director<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaggie Gyllenhaal<\/p>\n

Writers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaggie Gyllenhaal<\/p>\n

Producers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmma Tillinger Koskoff, Osnat Handelsman-Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, Maggie Gyllenhaal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With The Bride! in theaters, moviegoers have reached their verdict on Frankenstein (Christian Bale) and his titular lover…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-320311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}