The Bride! review: Maggie Gyllenhaal doubles down on everything Poor Things did with Frankenstein

Gyllenhaal has much more complicated aims. Her version of The Bride! is much harder to parse, and much harder to swallow. It’s a provocation and a challenge — a movie designed to prickle and puzzle the brain more than warm the heart. At times, the story’s layers get in the way of its more gut-level pleasures, but it’s clear that’s intentional. It isn’t always obvious what Gyllenhaal wants viewers to get out of The Bride!, but it’s obvious she’s comfortable making them work for it.