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Twenty-five years after she first came stumbling into our hearts, diary in hand, Bridget Jones returns—older, wiser (debatable), and facing a new chapter. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy sees Renée Zellweger reprise her most beloved role, this time navigating life as a fiftysomething widowed mother, grappling with grief, parenting and finding her spark again.
Directed by Michael Morris and adapted from Helen Fielding’s best-selling novel, the franchise’s fourth instalment is a story brimming with all the charm, wit, and frazzled chaos that made the original Bridget Jones’s Diary an instant classic. But make no mistake—this is not a rehash of the old formula. While the characters we all know and love are very much present and accounted for, Bridget’s world has changed, and, inevitably, so has she.
Following the loss of Mark Darcy (yes, that’s an early story arc—brace yourself!), Bridget finds herself juggling single parenthood to Billy and Mabel, the demands of her reignited career, PTA mums and the terrifying prospect of dating again in the digital age. And while she may have swapped her granny pants for something a little more contemporary, her trademark warmth and surprising resourcefulness see her through an onslaught of awkward situations with relentless optimism.
Zellweger, as always, is magnetic in her performance, nailing moments of harrowing grief and hilarity with realism and grace. In depicting this evolved Bridget, one that has endured unimaginable pain, she still effortlessly captures the complexities of grief and ‘starting over’ with a sense of enduring hope that love can still surprise us. And speaking of love, there’s plenty of romantic intrigue in the form of a phlegmatic teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a younger man (Leo Woodall), which brings fresh tensions, comedy, and even a tongue-in-cheek Pride & Prejudice-style pond scene.
Nearly a decade after the third film, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy doesn’t just wring from Bridget’s enduring appeal; it acknowledges the realities of what happens to a fanciful woman in midlife with refreshing honesty and delivers something endearingly familiar and entirely new. In a landscape still saturated with stories of youthful romance that leave much to be desired, Morris dares to ask: why should the pursuit of love, purpose, and adventure stop at 50?
At the beginning of the film, she sets out to not just survive but live. And in her ever-relatable and flawed resilient pursuit of this, she reminds us all to do the same.
Expect laughter, tears (many), and, of course, a heartwarming throwback moment or two, with plenty of favourites making a return to our screens—including a certain British lothario. If this is the final chapter, it’s a perfect send-off. But let’s be honest—we’d always welcome just one more.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is available to watch in cinemas worldwide from February 13, 2025.
