May 23, 2026 – The ghost of Mary Shelley opens this movie from beyond the grave, and she occasionally possesses the body of the Bride of Frankenstein in this spoof horror film set in America in 1936. While the plot wanders around quite a bit during its overlong running time, it does have an engaging, imaginative, darkly humorous story.

Ida (played by Jesse Buckley of “Hamnet”) is an unhappy woman pretending to be friends with Chicago mobsters at a nightclub when she is suddenly possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley (also played by Jesse Buckley) and starts telling the mobsters what she really thinks of them. This quickly leads to her death. Ida is resurrected by mad scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronius (played by Annette Bening of “Nyad”) at the request of Frank (Christian Bale of “Ford v Ferrari”) who is Frankenstein's very lonely monster. What could possibly go wrong with this plan?

When Ida wakes up from the dead she can't remember who she is, so Frank makes up a name for her, Penelope Rogers, or “Pretty Penny.” They don't hit it off at first because Frank is grotesque and Penny is a pretty, possessed, blank slate. It takes Frank way too long to tell Penny who and what she really is.

Frank and Penny quickly get into trouble with the law. Chicago mobster boss Lupino orders a hit on Penny because he thinks she knows too much about his operation. A corrupt Chicago detective is also after Penny because he loves her and he wants to protect her. He also feels guilty about putting her in a dangerous situation. Another person on the trail of these Bonnie and Clyde monsters is Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz of “Ferrari”) a kind of combination newspaper reporter and detective.

Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose famous brother Jake Gyllenhaal also appears in this movie, playing a movie actor, of all things, has put a lot of girl power in this movie. Since Frank is a big movie fan, there are lots of movie references as well. There is a lot going on, a lot of subplots. There is romance, sexual tension, shootouts, a crazy musical dance number, fights, and some road trips.

This movie got bad reviews from some critics, so I wasn't sure what to expect, other than this being different from a standard horror movie, and it really is different. Maggie Gyllenhaal has created an imaginative take on a really old story, combining feminism, mysticism and science fiction in a new way. I found it entertaining, but it did seem longer and more convoluted than it needed to be. The acting is solid and it did hold my interest. This movie rates a C+.

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