7 Minutes
When Frankenstein Meets Punk: A Composer's Take
Oscar-winning composer Hildur Gudnadottir is already talking about Maggie Gyllenhaal's highly anticipated monster film, The Bride!, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Best known to mainstream audiences for the haunting, low-frequency cello work that helped define Joker, Gudnadottir describes Gyllenhaal's reimagining of the Frankenstein myth as 'very punk and very romantic' — a surprising but fitting shorthand for a film that blends grotesque invention, intimate emotion, and bursts of violent spectacle.
The Bride!, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, relocates classic Gothic beats to 1930s Chicago. In the film, a restless Frankenstein travels to the city seeking Dr. Euphronius, a scientist who might create a companion for the creature. The experiment takes an unexpected turn when a murdered young woman is brought back to life, complicating ideas of creation, agency, and what it means to be monstrous.
The trailer that first hit in September hinted at a layered story. Gudnadottir expands on that: 'There is a love story, a thriller, and the monstrous birth of a woman. There is lots of excitement and violence,' she says, calling the movie intense and emotionally adventurous. For a composer who has alternated between documentary-rooted realism and more operatic horror, this hybrid tone is fertile ground.
A Punk-Romantic Score: Guitar Meets Orchestra
One of the clearest notes Gudnadottir offers is about texture. She says the film's score juxtaposes 'screaming electric guitar AND an orchestra.' That collision — raw, aggressive rock timbres alongside sweeping strings and nuanced cello lines — mirrors the film's tonal balancing act. In other words, the music will not simply underscore fear; it will also amplify longing.
This approach recalls how some recent genre films layer unexpected musical choices to reframe familiar narratives. Think of Guillermo del Toro's use of lush themes in Pan's Labyrinth to juxtapose childhood wonder against authoritarian brutality, or Jóhann Jóhannsson's unsettling minimalism in Sicario. Gudnadottir's mix of punk energy and romantic lyricism promises to push The Bride! into a territory that is both visceral and elegiac.
Why the score matters
Music in monster films often does the heavy lifting of humanizing the inhuman. Gudnadottir has a track record for this: her Emmy- and Grammy-winning work on Chernobyl and the scores for Tár and Joker show she gravitates toward stories that probe darkness and the human consequences of catastrophe. On Women Talking, she famously shifted from an instinctive, darker response to a deliberate, hopeful counterpoint at director Sarah Polley's request — illustrating how music can offer emotional framing rather than simple amplification.
The Bride! appears to continue that conversation between director and composer. Gudnadottir calls the project 'a little bit nuts' in the best way, suggesting that Gyllenhaal's vision allows music to be playful and imaginative rather than strictly faithful to period or genre conventions.
Context: Why reworking Frankenstein now?
Frankenstein has always been malleable — from Mary Shelley to James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein and countless modern reinterpretations. Today, filmmakers are revisiting classic myths to explore gender, consent, and creation. Gyllenhaal, coming off the psychologically intimate drama The Lost Daughter, brings a feminine, character-forward lens to the story. That aligns with a broader trend: directors like Leigh and DaCosta are reclaiming canonical narratives to foreground complex female interiority.
Comparing The Bride! to Gyllenhaal's previous work, The Lost Daughter was a quiet, interior character study; The Bride! is outwardly theatrical while preserving that focus on female complexity. Musically, Gudnadottir appears to follow suit — conveying inner states with both tenderness and shock.
Behind the scenes and trivia
- Gudnadottir will receive a career achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival, where she also speaks about the state of film music today.
- The composer mentions that the film's world is 'layered' and that the music sometimes channels punk aesthetics alongside classical orchestration.
- Her new solo album, Where to From, is her first in a decade and will be supported by a short tour; puppeteer Giséle Vienne provides the cover art.
A small production note that fans will appreciate: the trailer gives away little of the score, which suggests the filmmakers are holding musical surprises back for the theatrical experience.
Critical perspective: balancing horror and empathy
Gudnadottir admits she often 'gravitate[s] more towards darkness,' but she is clear-eyed about responsibility. On Women Talking she avoided amplifying violence and instead created music that acted as 'the counterpoint to the horror.' That ethical stance is relevant to The Bride!, which ties directorial spectacle to intimate trauma. The challenge for any composer here is to avoid melodrama while still giving viewers an emotional foothold.
Cinema historian Marko Jensen offers a brief take: 'Gyllenhaal's decision to recast Frankenstein in a period-pulp setting invites a soundtrack that can be both subversive and classical. Gudnadottir's track record suggests she will use sonic contrast to highlight the film's moral ambiguities rather than resolve them.'
Film critic Anna Kovacs adds, 'The most compelling scores are those that complicate what we see. Gudnadottir has a rare talent for making music that feels both intimate and colossal — perfect for a monster story told through a human lens.'
What to expect and why it matters
For fans of genre reinvention, The Bride! is shaping up to be distinctive: a period piece with modern thematic concerns, scored by a composer who understands the narrative weight of sound. If you enjoyed the atmospheric dread of Joker, the haunting restraint of Chernobyl, or the emotional counterpoint in Women Talking, Gudnadottir's contribution to The Bride! will likely be one of the film's most talked-about elements.
Beyond the movie itself, this collaboration is part of a larger shift in how film music is treated. Increasingly, composers are not just underscoring action but co-authoring tone and meaning. That shift has consequences for awards conversations, festival programming, and how audiences talk about films on streaming platforms and social media.
Whether The Bride! ultimately becomes a genre classic or a provocative cult hit, Gudnadottir's description — punk and romantic, chaotic and tender — gives us a clear reason to listen as closely as we watch. The trailer may have started the conversation, but the score promises to steer much of the emotional aftermath.
Source: variety
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