Bridget Jones is back!
Written by Mariane Tremblay
Our beloved (and all-too-relatable) Bridget Jones is back on our screens after nine years—and we couldn’t be more thrilled!
I'll be going over some scenes from the film so be aware...
Four years after the heartbreaking loss of her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), Bridget (Renée Zellweger) is navigating life as a widow and single mother to Billy (Casper Knopf) and Mabel (Mila Jankovic). With the support of her family, friends, and former lover (and boss) Daniel (Hugh Grant), she returns to work, tackles the world of dating apps, and finds herself caught between the attention of a younger man (Leo Woodall) and perhaps, just maybe, her son’s science teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
I was lowkey (okay, highkey) angry when I found out Mark Darcy was killed off, and when the film was announced, I wasn’t sure I’d even want to watch it. But then I reminded myself that these films are about Bridget, and I quickly came to my senses (I wouldn’t have been able to resist watching anyway).
Within the first five minutes, I was already in tears—this fourth chapter of Bridget's life is far more emotional than I expected. The Bridget Jones films have always been some of my go-to comfort films, offering laughs and a sense of connection (yes, every time I watch Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), I spend the whole 97 minutes saying, “She’s just like me!”). But Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy hit me right in the feels and broke my heart in ways I wasn’t quite ready for.
They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. From the moment the film begins, it’s clear that Bridget is still stuck in the fourth stage, trying to navigate the chaos of her everyday life with her children and survive it.
Watching Bridget grieve the loss of Mark is deeply painful, especially for long-time fans of the franchise. Let’s face it—after all the ups and downs, they finally get married, and then Mark’s life is tragically cut short in Sudan during a humanitarian mission? It feels almost too cruel, but unfortunately, life’s like that—even in fictional worlds.
For me (and probably for many others), Bridget and Mark were it! They were very different, but those differences only made them stronger, and that’s what made their love so special: it was messy and imperfect, but completely real. You could feel the affection they had for each other, and that’s what made watching Bridget try to navigate life as a widow and single mother even harder. They were meant to be together, and the idea of her being with anyone else was just unimaginable—and she said it herself “I don’t want to be with anyone else!”
To Modern Love by David Bowie, we see her trying to take control of her life and move past that infamous stage four of grieving. At the suggestion of her gynecologist (and friend), Dr. Rawlings (Emma Thompson), she finally returns to work and even starts exploring Tinder… Just as Bridget decides to re-enter the dating world, she meets a park ranger (Leo Woodall), a younger man who pursues her through the dating app. After days of texting, they arrange a date, with Bridget’s friends offering advice before they go out. What follows is a moment that turned into a date, which turned into a kiss. Which turned into a night. And the night turned into a Summer fling. Bridget then begins to embrace the possibilities ahead.
As life isn’t always as sweet and easy, Bridget faces the harsh realities of navigating a relationship with someone much younger than herself. Roxster, despite his charm and youthful enthusiasm, confesses that he wishes he had a time machine revealing the unspoken complexities between them—he likely regrets not meeting her earlier when their connection might have been simpler, or perhaps he feels the weight of their age difference. His desire to rewrite the past hints at his struggle with the uncertainty of their future together. Just when you think Bridget has finally reached the last stage of grieving, you realize that she might not be there yet.
There were a few scenes that hit me emotionally (okay, I cried almost through the entire film), but the ones that stood out the most were when Bridget is going through Mark’s things and then writes him a letter. In it, she asks, how is she supposed to do this without him, “please forgive me for being upset about anything why isn’t about not having you. Please help me find a way to do this without feeling like I’m ruining the most important part of my life. The only part that still has you in it”. That moment broke me. Seeing Bridget this upset and hopeless made me feel deeply sad and I just asked myself “how can anyone ever overcome that kind of loss?”
Another scene that hit hard was when she is celebrating Mark’s birthday with their children. It was so raw and emotional.
"And Mark’s birthday came as it always did… like all the celebrations, Christmases, and anniversaries. All the love, all the pain."
Her counting from 1 to 3 before letting go of the balloons for his birthday felt like a powerful metaphor for letting go of the past. As she said “one, two…” her voice trembled, and you could see the hesitation on her face, as though she was fighting to hold on to what was familiar—to the memories of Mark and their life together. It wasn’t just a simple countdown—it was a reflection of her internal struggle to move forward. She struggled to reach "three," and in that moment, it felt as though she was battling her own emotions, not just the act of releasing the balloons. When she finally let go, it was as if she was giving herself permission to start healing, to let go of the past, and embrace the future truly, no matter how uncertain it might be.
After that scene, you finally feel like she has reached the fifth stage of grief, allowing herself to be happy, live her life fully, and either meet or confess her feelings to the right person. The film’s ending truly feels like a warm hug, making you believe that everything will be okay. It reminds you that while grief is a hard journey, it’s not impossible to overcome.
“Can you survive?
I think so. I have to. I’m trying.
It’s not enough to survive. You’ve got to live [...] promise me you’ll live, Bridget.”
In Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Renée Zellweger gives her most emotional performance of the Bridget Jones films, and I’m completely obsessed with Bridget’s character development across all four movies. We first met her as a chaotic, quirky young woman in her 30s, fumbling through life, love, and self-doubt. Then, after all these years, we see her as a mother in the fourth film—fully embracing that new chapter of her life, even though she’s facing the loss of her husband. While motherhood adds a new layer to her, she still carries that lovable, chaotic energy we’ve always adored. It’s that perfect blend of vulnerability and humor that makes her so relatable and real, no matter what stage of life she’s in. She has always been one of the most relatable characters in cinema, and this film proves it once again. But more than just surviving, this film shows that it’s time for Bridget to live. She’s learning to embrace the future, no longer weighed down by her past, even as she carries it with her. Bridget’s journey isn’t just about getting through life—it’s about finding the strength to truly live it, to open herself to love again, and to embrace the messiness of her new reality.
I truly loved all the little nods to the previous films and the sense of continuity throughout. From her password, "allbymyself47," to her journaling, the familiar dynamics with her friends, and, of course, the article about Daniel being found alive hung up on her wall, to the iconic reindeer jumper—it was a heartwarming reminder of everything that makes the Bridget Jones universe uniquely, well, Bridget Jones!
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is now streaming on Peacock and Amazon Prime Canada (I still can't believe we didn’t get to watch this one on the big screen—I'll be forever mad at whoever decided otherwise)!
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