Dr. Frankenstein’s creature meets his counterpart in Director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s neo-gothic romance, The Bride!

Set in 1930s Chicago, Gyllenhaal’s unwraps the tale of what happens after the creature known as “Frank” asks groundbreaking scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronious to help create a companion. They bring back to life to a murdered young woman and what happens next is beyond what either of them could ever have imagined including romance, police interest, and radical social change.

On March 14, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Gyllenhaal discussed the making of The Bride! during a Q&A moderated by Director Greta Gerwig (Barbie).

During the conversation, Gyllenhaal spoke about the role dance plays in the film and how she worked on that element.

“I realized I wanted Frank’s primary relationship to be with someone in the movies. That felt so lonely that he’s so alienated he thinks he has a relationship with someone who has no idea who he is. Then I was thinking about those movies of the ‘30s, how delightful they are, how joyful they are, how much pleasure they’ve given me, and yet, how totally based in fantasy they are. This movie was also meant to be an exploding of that fantasy, can we love each other with all of the monstrous aspects of ourselves included?  So, the idea of bouncing my monster love affair off a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers kind of love affair... then dance came in. I think it always played that juxtaposing kind of part where you’re wondering is it the fantasy kind of dance where Frank is imagining himself inside of these movies but he’s too tall and his top hat is above everyone else’s? Or imagining her [the Bride] in that Ginger Rogers dress in that club, thinking wow is our love affair going to be like that? Or is that very real kind of monster dancing in the ballroom where he’s met with terrible despair and disappointment and hurt and pain when Ronnie Reed [the movie star Frank idolizes] rejects him and he can either smash his fucking head in like we saw him do the guys in the club or, he can dance. I remember auditioning these incredible dancers and saying to them, ‘Move across the room and surprise yourself at what happens when you let a little of your monster out.”

Gyllenhaal’s other directorial credits include an episode of the mini-series Homemade and she won the 2021 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film for The Lost Daughter. She has been a DGA member since 2022.