THE BRIDE!

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens with text stating that Mary Shelley (Jessie Buckley) wrote “Frankenstein” on a dare when she was 18 years old, on a dare. The spirit of Shelley appears from some state of limbo, where she expresses how her real vision of her famous book could not be completed before her death, and as such, she has found an opportunity to tell her real story.

Chicago, 1936 – Shelley possesses a woman named Ida (also Buckley), who is out at a restaurant in the presence of mob boss Vito Lupino (Zlatko Buric). She makes Ida start speaking in a Cockney accent and ranting about Lupino’s crimes. His two lackeys, Clyde and James (John Magaro and Matthew Maher), take Ida away to a private area, where she continues talking crazy. They move her near a stairway, where she takes a tumble and breaks her neck. Shelley declares that Ida is now “the motherfucking Bride”.

The monster created by Victor Frankenstein, who goes by “Frank” (Christian Bale) arrives in Chicago at the home of Dr. Cornelia Euphronius (Annette Bening), who lives with her assistant Greta (Jeannie Berlin). Euphronius is astonished by Frank’s existence, but he comes to her with the request that she create for him a companion, due to spending over a century alone and deprived of personal pleasures, and since he has read Euphronius’s work on reanimation. Despite her reluctance, Euphronius agrees to help Frank.

The two go to a grave and dig up Ida’s corpse. Euphronius performs a successful experiment, but Ida cannot remember her name or who she is, and her skin is stained black by a fluid used by Euphronius, but she continues to go between her normal voice and the voice used by Shelley (who also talks to Ida internally). Frank is quickly smitten with Ida but accidentally strikes her when she approaches him as he sleeps. After a meal with Euphronius, Frank takes Ida out and tells her that she was previously his bride before she died.

Frank brings Ida to the cinema to watch a film with his favorite actor, Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), before taking her to a nightclub. He finds himself falling for Ida, picturing himself dancing with her like a classic film. After Ida hangs out with some showgirls, she ends up harassed by some punks. Frank gets them away from her, but the two follow the couple down an alley. They physically harass the two until Frank smashes both of their heads open in front of the other patrons, forcing him and Ida to run. Frank feels he has to run off on his own, urging Ida to hide herself, but she chooses to go with him.

Frank and Ida board a train heading to New York City but are caught by a security guard. In his struggle to apprehend them, Ida pushes the man off the train, causing him to fatally smash his head on the tracks. The deaths of the two club guys attracts the attention of Detectives Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz). They are also alerted to the guard’s death and follow the duo to New York.

After arriving in New York, Frank changes his clothes. Ida says she cannot remember her name, so Frank starts calling her “Penny”. She tries to initiate sex with him when they are alone, but he cannot get into it. They later go to a screening of “Revolt of the Zombies”, where Ida hits a guy who is getting too handsy with his date. The guy recognizes Frank and Ida as “the killer monsters”, causing a panic in the theater.

The duo run through the streets and sneak into a fancy party, where Ronnie Reed is attending. Frank disguises himself and approaches Reed to express his admiration, but he acts like a jerk to Frank. He and Ida then begin dancing, which somehow causes the other guests to match their rhythm as if the two were possessing them. Wiles and Malloy show up, and Ida holds Reed at gunpoint. Wiles appears to recognize Ida. In the chaos, she accidentally shoots and kills a cop. Ida and Frank flee and hot-wire a car, allowing them to escape New York, but not before sharing a passionate kiss.

Frank and Ida, who now calls herself “The Bride”, fall in love and drive toward Niagara Falls. The Bride inspires other women in the area, especially victims of violence, to dress up like her and spread chaos and anarchy. Lupino catches wind of The Bride’s survival, prompting him to execute James for failing to kill her and for him to send Clyde to get the job done.

On the road, Frank and The Bride are pulled over by a cop (Louis Cancelmi), who attempts to rape The Bride but gets shot by Frank. She then proceeds to bite his tongue out.

Wiles and Malloy continue their pursuit of the duo. They catch up to Frank and The Bride in Niagara Falls, where Wiles tries to warn The Bride and stop her from continuing her crimes with Frank. Wiles admits to Malloy that he was working with Ida when she was alive, as they were going to take Lupino down together. He feels guilty over the belief that he led her to her death. He retires and allows Malloy to take the lead on the case.

Frank and The Bride end up at a drive-in theater, where he proposes to her. He admits that he was not honest earlier about who she was before she died, and says that he didn’t even know who she was. Frank gets shot by Clyde, who has tracked the duo there, as well as Malloy. The Bride takes Frank’s body away.

The Bride brings Frank back to Euphronius. She is reluctant to bring Frank back to life since there’s a chance he will not remember The Bride, as the same thing happened to Euphronius when she tried to revive her own husband. Clyde shows up and shoots The Bride, followed by the cops who come in and see her holding a gun. Malloy orders the officers to go after Clyde, while Euphronius is left with the bodies of Frank and The Bride. Shelley appears one last time, seemingly moving from The Bride’s body to Euphronius.

Outside, Clyde is arrested. Malloy looks up and sees lights coming from Euphronius’s lab. The last thing we see are the hands of The Bride and Frank coming together.

During the credits, Lupino is arrested, and the female rioters inspired by The Bride celebrate.

Frankenstein's monster, "Frank", finds a scientist, Dr. Cornelia Euphronius, to help create for him a companion after reanimating the corpse of a murdered woman named Ida. She is possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley, who wants to tell her own "real" version of "Frankenstein".

The duo fall in love and go on the run after Frank kills two thugs in Chicago. They are pursued to New York by Detectives Jake Wiles and Myrna Malloy, the former who was working with Ida to take down Vito Lupino, whose henchmen had Ida killed. Frank and Ida, now known as "The Bride", become an infamous duo known as the "killer monsters". While the police go after them, they inspire a group of women who admire The Bride's look and her causing chaos.

Lupino's henchman Clyde shoots Frank dead, prompting The Bride to bring his body back to Euphronius. Before she can do anything, Clyde shoots The Bride. Malloy has the police arrested Clyde (and later Lupino), while Shelley's spirit moves on to Euphronius so she may revive The Bride and Frank.