Director: Simon West
Writers: Cece Pleasants, Shaina Steinberg
Stars: Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Anna Chlumsky
Synopsis: When a mercenary group takes a lavish wedding hostage, they have no idea what they are in for as the maid of honor is actually a secret agent ready to rain hellfire upon anyone who would ruin her best friend’s wedding.
Bride Hard is a new action comedy designed as a vehicle for Rebel Wilson, the star of films like the Pitch Perfect franchise, Bridesmaids, Jojo Rabbit, and even a viral clip where she humorously told Idris Elba at an awards show that she’s socially programmed to want chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Wilson is hilarious and, at times, downright adorable, with a distinct comedic persona and a talent that stands apart from anything else in the industry. Given her physical transformation, one would expect a role that leans into her gift for physical comedy to be a natural fit.
However, Bride Hard ultimately misuses Wilson’s comedic strengths, resulting in a final product that fails to reach the low bar set by even Kevin James’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop films. It’s a tedious bore—and one of the worst films of 2025.
The story follows the genre playbook step by step, focusing on the strained relationship or lack thereof between Sam (Wilson) and Betsy (Cafe Society’s Anna Camp), childhood best friends. Betsy is now marrying Ryan (Sam Huntington of Jungle 2 Jungle fame) and has chosen her long-absent bestie as maid of honor, much to the irritation of her future sister-in-law, Virginia (Veep’s Anna Chlumsky). Sam is always too busy with work to help plan the wedding, but she has a good reason: she’s a secret agent, quietly serving and protecting her country from the scum of the earth.
For example, during the bachelorette party—which she has the government relocate to Paris to multitask while on a mission—Sam disappears to hunt down a terrorist involved in a suspicious drop, presumably linked to nefarious activities. Her boss, Nadine (Joy Ride’s Sherry Cola), disapproves of her recklessness, while Betsy’s friends—including Academy Award winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph—resent Sam for never thinking of anyone but herself. However, everyone will be relieved later when the wedding is taken over by a band of terrorists, led by a no-nonsense muscle of the Columbian cartel, Kurt (Stephen Dorff), looking to break into Betsy’s future family’s vault to loot the family fortune, which looks like Fort Knox-lite.
Bride Hard was directed by Simon West, who has maintained an impressive streak of misfires since executive producing Black Hawk Down, making his directorial debut with Con Air, and capturing Rick Astley’s smooth pop ballad “Never Gonna Give You Up” on the small screen. Frankly, after his last thirteen films, we should be concerned that West took the title of that song a little too seriously—Rickrolling his way through Hollywood with jaw-droppingly bad efforts ever since.
Bride Hard may be his crowning achievement: an action comedy with no thrills, no laughs, and no purpose beyond featuring Justin Hartley as an inept heartthrob—the film’s only mildly amusing element, which grows tiresome than the extra “F” is Stephen Dorff’s last name.
Bride Hard is not worth watching—unless you’re a fan of flat jokes, predictable plotting, and a completely lazy, inept excuse for a cinematic swing. To put it politely, the freshman script from Shaina Steinberg is tedious; to be blunt, it’s atrocious. I didn’t think a movie could be worse than Flight Risk, but at least that film had an over-the-top, entertaining Mark Wahlberg reveling in its awkwardness.
At least, with that film, you were not bored, whereas West’s film is so charmless that it has no sense of its own watered-down identity.
You can watch Bride Hard only in theaters now!
