On March 15, Jessie Buckley almost surely will be presented with the Academy Award for best actress for her terrific performance in last year’s “Hamnet.”

She’s already getting a jump on the race for that same Oscar in 2027.

Buckley is ground-shakingly good in “The Bride!” — writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal's unflinching tale built around the best gal of Frankenstein’s monster.

In theaters this week, the film is fiercely feminist, a little punk, more than a bit surreal, leaning much heavier on absurdist romance than horror and, ultimately, an unnatural force of nature.

“The Bride!” is the kind of movie to which you simply give yourself over, going with its surprisingly brisk, never-much-concerned-with-logistics brand of storytelling.

This tale — inspired initially by a tattoo of the Bride of Frankenstein Gyllenhaal saw at a party and later her viewing of 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein,” which, like every Frankenstein movie, stems from Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” — begins with Shelley. Long dead from her bout with brain cancer and portrayed by Buckley, she speaks to us from beyond the grave, preparing us for the story she is about to present.

Next, Ida (also Buckley), a young woman in 1930s Chicago who is suffering through a dinner with obnoxious mobsters in a gangster-owned establishment, becomes possessed by Mary. She puts on quite a show, earning a fatal push down a flight of stairs for her efforts.

Gyllenhaal then introduces us to Frankenstein’s monster, aka “Frank” (Christian Bale), who’s come to Chicago to enlist the help of a groundbreaking scientist, Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening, “American Beauty”). He confides in her that he is crushingly lonely and that in his many years of life, he has never experienced certain pleasures, which she understands to be those associated with having a mate.

Initially reluctant, she agrees to help him, and the two dig up a body that proves to be Ida’s. Rather easily “reinvigorated” by Euphronious’ equipment, Ida is brought back in rather rough shape and without her memory, but she rattles off chains of vocabulary owned by Mary and has a penchant for quoting Melville. (Be with the monstrous Frank? “I would prefer not to.”)

Yet, they quickly become a pair, Frank telling her they were married before the accident that robbed her of her memories and that her name is Penelope, aka “Pretty Penny.”

Frank also takes her to the movies, theaters long having served as a haven for him. Specifically, he adores the films of matinee idol Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal, brother of Maggie).

They soon land in New York City, where they make a splash — first literally, as Frank pilfers pennies from a fountain, and later at a 3D zombie movie and, that same night, inside a fancy ballroom. Gyllenhaal — Maggie, that is — even treats us to an elaborate dance number, which should give you an even better idea as to what you’re in store for with “The Bride!”

As they become a Bonnie-and-Clyde-like tandem, one that sparks the imagination of women across the land, they are pursued by a pair of cops: the laidback Detective Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard, husband of Maggie) and his secretary, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”), who’s clearly the better sleuth. They’re also hunted by a henchman (John Magaro, “September 5”) of a powerful Chicago gangster (Zlatko Burić, “Superman”).

For as unconventional as “The Bride!” is overall, it milks tension from the fact that Frank has based his relationship with Penny on a lie, which is about as conventional a piece of conflict as you’ll find in a romance. Really, though, that’s one of the few nits we can pick.

For starters, this very cool movie looks very cool, thanks to contributors such as director of photography Lawrence Sher (“Joker”), production designer Karen Murphy (“Elvis”), costume designer Sandy Powell (“The Favourite”) and, last but not least, the hair and makeup team of Kay Georgiou and Nadia Stacey, who contribute largely to the Bride’s distinctive appearance. (We’re pretty sure we see a nice little homage to Elsa Lanchester’s titular character in “Bride of Frankenstein” in the hair of the just-revived Ida.)

This being only Gyllenhaal’s second directorial effort — following 2021’s likewise excellent “The Lost Daughter,” for which Buckley earned a nomination for the best supporting actress Oscar — the world of cinema had better brace for whatever this woman previously known for her acting work does behind the camera in the future.

Whatever she makes, she should make it with Buckley whenever possible. The actress is so impactful here — as Mary, Ida and the Bride — that it's hard to capture her brilliance with words. Every choice she makes is perfect, every touch divine.

How fantastic is she? She makes Bale (“The Dark Knight,” “Vice”) — one of the finest actors of the last couple of decades — almost an afterthought. That’s not a knock on him; it’s a credit to her.

This is her party, and she’ll thrive if she wants to.

All of that said, it will be fascinating to see how a mass audience responds to “The Bride!” This latest big release from the lately much-discussed Warner Bros. Pictures is an art-house offering masquerading as a mainstream flick.

Give it a chance, though. By the time the closing credits roll, backed, appropriately, by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers’ enduring 1962 jam, “Monster Mash,” you’re likely to have had a scary-fun time.

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'THE BRIDE!

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong/bloody violent content, sexual content/nudity and language)

Running time: 2:06

How to watch: In theaters March 6

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