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Back and as chaotic as ever, Renée Zellweger returns in her iconic role of Bridget Jones for a new chapter in the story. Still figuring out this romance thing, Bridget must toe the challenging line of grieving and learning how to continue to live.
Now, with two children in tow, Bridget is no longer working in her role as a television producer and is struggling to navigate life as a single parent following the death of her beloved husband, Mark Darcy.
Though much has changed, Bridget is still the “frazzled English woman” we know and love and hasn’t lost an ounce of her charm since the last time we saw her on the big screen almost a decade ago.
Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures
Helen Fielding adapts her novel for the screen alongside Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan with maturity. She shows growth in Bridget, who is in an entirely new chapter of life and has moved on from chasing problematic men who break her heart—no matter how entertaining it may be for us to watch.
While some may argue that is the charm of a Bridget Jones flick, Fielding, Mazer, and Morgan have found a way to keep the rom-com elements thriving in a story slightly more grown-up than the ones we’ve seen before.
In many ways, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is a coming-of-age tale. We watch Bridget learn who she is all over again now that she has lost the person she expected to spend the rest of her life with. She surrounds herself with friends, learns who is right for her, and what she must do to move forward in a way that still honors and respects the person she fell in love with and built a family with.
Because of this, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is much more of a tear-jerker than its predecessors. Multiple scenes earn a tear for their sincerity and warmth. That unfortunately familiar feeling of grief unites the film’s audience, and there were moments where you could hear people fighting against releasing their sobs – a strange form of comfort in a room full of strangers who you know are sharing the same emotions you are.
Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures
It’s a shame this one will be going straight to digital in US territories as it’s a crowd-pleaser that earned uproarious laughter from its audience and is so all-encompassing in a way that’ll feel wasted on a streaming release.
For fans of the series so far, you’ll be pleased to know that all the tropes are back and honored in a way that feelsmeaningful and not cheap – more like nods that signposts.
Because of that, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy feels like meeting with old friends: warm, cozy, and filled with hysterical laughter. Two hours breeze by in an instant, and when those credits start to roll, you ache to immediately return to that feeling that director Michael Morris captures so beautifully.
While we meet with old friends, we also have two new ones in Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall, who slide into the world of Bridget Jones with ease. They must be commended for embracing the ridiculousness while keeping the sincerity among a group of actors familiar with the patter they’ve built on screen for over two decades.
Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures
Sequel fatigue is valid, but not an ounce of it sneaks through in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. It doesn’t feel like a cheap cash grab profiting off nostalgia but a thoughtful, well-crafted movie that stands in its own right, even without a deep love and affection for the films that came before it. Sure, you miss part of its charm if you’ve no affiliation to the first three, but you should get as much out of it as someone returning for the fourth time.
Not only is it the fourth time we meet with Bridget, but it is also likely the final, making the film even more bittersweet when it ends because it reminds us just how joyful it is to spend a couple of hours in the presence of Zellweger and co.
It feels like a sweet goodbye to the story that has been ongoing for close to a quarter of a century, reminding us that we’ve grown up along the way, too. No matter what age you are (I was just four years old when the first film came out), there is an overwhelming rush of emotion that comes in the credits when we get to look back over the years of Bridget falling in and out of love and finding herself through it all.
Today is Valentine’s Day, and what a perfect choice for people searching Peacock for something new to get lost in on this holiday designed to celebrate love, whether that be of the self, familial, platonic, or romantic – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has all four.
Where Can I Watch Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in the US?
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy will be available to stream on Peacock from February 13, 2025.