Viewed as the first sci-fi novel, Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus seemingly begs to be re-created by mad scientists of every era. The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s latest directorial endeavor, comes up with a whole new type of monster. The film is loosely based on James Whale’s magnificent movie of 1935, The Bride of Frankenstein. In Gyllenhaal’s adaptation, however, she offers agency to the title character, who has been made as a mate for the “monster” that Dr. Frankenstein so blithely created from dead bodies. As Gyllenhaal recently told Deadline, “I understand Frankenstein’s ask; he’s this very lonely, vulnerable man who is literally at a life-and-death degree of loneliness, saying, ‘Please, help me find someone to be with,’ but what about her?” The film foregrounds the issue of consent, humanizing a woman brought to life solely to serve a man’s interests. Yes, it is violent. But for Gyllenhaal, that brutality is necessary. “It will be hard to watch,” she warns. “I think we can take it.” —Maggie Turner