Well, it’s Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, so you know this is a must-watch movie. Bale as the romantic monster and Buckley as his self-destructive love interest reminded me of Bonny and Clyde, or Sid and Nancy, doomed both by bad decisions and bad luck. But this role is Elsa Lanchester’s, you know, and so Buckley really had to put her own stamp on the performance. She did it (that neck roll!) and created a feminist-terrorist-victim-monster archetypal character that was fascinating, repulsive, hard to look at and strangely beautiful. This movie was really in your face. I like Frankenstein movies and I really liked Gyllenhaal’s take on this story. And, of course, I adore Annette Bening – she looks fabulous – so that was a bonus to this amazing cast.
