--- title: "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" year: 2025 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy" fi1m_id: "bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy" imdb_id: "tt32063050" tmdb_id: 1272149 wikidata_id: "Q124706420" fi1m_score: 70 critics_score: 74 critics_reviews: 19 published: "2026-09-09" updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:51.950494+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025) Directed by Michael Morris · 2h 04m · MPA R · Romance, Comedy, Drama ## Identity Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy - **IMDb ID:** tt32063050 - **TMDB ID:** 1272149 - **Wikidata ID:** Q124706420 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32063050/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1272149, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124706420 **Fi1m score: 70** · Critics 74 from 19 reviews *In a sentence:* Bridget buries a husband, dates a twenty-something and keeps a house the size of a clinic; we cried, then coveted the kitchen > The fourth Bridget Jones film is the saddest and, for a while, the best since the first, with Zellweger and Grant doing careful work about getting older. It is also baggy, cushioned by money, and funnier in memory than while it was on. ## Synopsis Bridget Jones is in her fifties, widowed, and raising two children, Billy and Mabel, in London. Her friends Miranda and Talitha, and her parents, want her back in the world. She signs up to a dating app and meets Roxster, a man in his twenties who says all the right things. She also meets Scott Walliker, closer to her own age and harder to impress. Daniel Cleaver, older but not noticeably wiser, is still around. Renée Zellweger returns in the fourth film of the series, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent and Bridget Jones, directed by Michael Morris from a script by Helen Fielding, Abi Morgan and Dan Mazer. ## Review Bridget Jones is in her fifties, widowed, and living with two children in a house far tidier than she is. That is the set-up of the fourth film, and it is a braver one than the series has tried before. Michael Morris directs, from a script by Helen Fielding, Abi Morgan and Dan Mazer based on Fielding’s novel, and for its first hour this is the best Bridget Jones film since Sharon Maguire’s original in 2001. Then it sits down and gets comfortable, and at 124 minutes it stays sat for longer than it should. Renée Zellweger plays a Bridget who has stopped going out, and who is prodded back into the world by her friends Miranda (Sarah Solemani) and Talitha (Josette Simon). Two men turn up. Roxster (Leo Woodall) is in his twenties, found on a dating app, and says all the right things; Scott Walliker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is nearer her own age and says considerably fewer of them. You can see where this is going inside ten minutes. Zellweger has been playing this woman for a quarter of a century and she still does the pratfalls, the flustered speeches, the face that does four things at once. A few critics found it too much this time, and in the public scenes we agreed; a mother of two falling over at a school gate is a routine, not a character. In the house, at night, she is doing something quieter. There is a bedtime scene with Mabel (Mila Jankovic) in which nobody says the word dead, and Zellweger holds a smile a second longer than the scene needs, and we were not ready for it. It moved us more than we expected a Bridget Jones film to, and it was the length of that smile that did it. Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver is older, greyer and still incapable of a sincere sentence, and Grant plays the incapacity as something Cleaver has lately begun to notice in himself. He has a handful of scenes and they are the funniest and the saddest in the film. Ejiofor is the other good thing. He gives Walliker a stillness the rest of the picture could use, and his scenes with Zellweger are the only ones in which two adults seem to be listening to each other. Woodall has the thinner part; Roxster is a set of nice manners and a jawline, and the script never decides how seriously we should take him. Jim Broadbent and Bridget Jones return as Bridget’s parents and are given about as much to do as a pair of framed photographs. Suzie Lavelle shoots London in soft, low winter sun, with a good deal of parkland and bare trees, and the film looks as expensive as Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner’s comedies generally do. Kave Quinn’s production design puts Bridget in a large, bright house with a kitchen we found ourselves pricing, and it is hard to worry about a woman with that kitchen; the clutter that made the first film funny has been put away. Molly Emma Rowe helps by dressing her in the outsized jumpers and wrong-for-the-weather dresses of old. Dustin O’Halloran’s score is piano, mostly, and it arrives a bar before the feeling does, so that we are told to be sad and then shown why. Mark Day’s editing is the weak point: the second hour has no tension in it, subplots start and are left where they fell, and there is always one more scene before the one the film needs. Most critics have been warmer than we are. Several call it the best of the four, and we would not go that far; set against Maguire’s original it is gentler, sadder and slower, with fewer jokes that land. Set against *Bridget Jones’s Baby* it is a clear step up. The grief is the part that works, and we did not expect a series built on drunken singing to play it so straight. The jokes are the part that has aged, and the ones about apps sound written by someone who has only been told about them. Worth your evening if the earlier films were ever yours; if they were not, this will not convert you. Watch it at home, where the slow stretches can be talked over, and allow for the fact that it could lose twenty minutes and nobody would notice which ones. *Fi1m score 70, published 9 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like this fourth film a good deal more than the third, and several call it the strongest since the original. The praise clusters around Renée Zellweger, whom the reviews find warmer and less clownish as a widow in her fifties, and around Hugh Grant, whose older Daniel Cleaver is singled out again and again as the source of the film’s heart. Critics also credit the script for treating grief and middle age seriously without losing the jokes. Reservations are about structure and freshness: a loose, tension-free plot, some dated gags, new characters who get less room than the returning ones, and a reliance on fan service that some find comforting and others find hollow. The spread is wide rather than narrow. The Evening Standard finds it bloated and mawkish, Sight and Sound thinks the comedy has run dry, and Collider, alone among the dissenters, blames Zellweger’s performance rather than the writing. ## Straight answers **Is Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy worth watching?** *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy* is worth watching if the earlier films were ever yours, and we scored it 70. Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant do careful, sad work about getting older, and the grief is the part that lands. It is also baggy at 124 minutes, so watch it at home where the slow stretches can be talked over. **How long is Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and what is it rated?** *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy* runs 2h 04m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a romance and comedy film. **Where can I watch Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in the US?** *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy* is streaming on Peacock, Amazon Prime Video and The Roku Channel in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and is it suitable for children?** *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy* is not violent or frightening; it is a romantic comedy about a widow in her fifties, and its 15 certificate points to adult material rather than anything alarming. The subject is bereavement, with a dead husband and two children coping with it, so it is a film for adults and older teenagers rather than younger children. **How does Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy compare to Bridget Jones's Diary?** *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy* is gentler, sadder and slower than [*Bridget Jones's Diary*](https://film.one/film/bridget-joness-diary), with fewer jokes that land. The original is still the funniest of the series and the tighter film, made before Bridget had a large house and a kitchen to worry about. Choose the newer one for its treatment of grief and for Grant and Zellweger visibly older; choose the first for laughs. **Is Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy based on a true story or a book?** *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy* is based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same name, not on a true story. Fielding co-wrote the script with Abi Morgan and Dan Mazer, and our review does not weigh how closely the film follows the book. You do not need to have read it; knowing the earlier films matters more than knowing the novel. **What should I watch after Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy?** After *Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy*, try [*Bridget Jones's Diary*](https://film.one/film/bridget-joness-diary) (2001, Fi1m 80): The original, still the funniest, before anyone had a house to worry about. Then [*Truly Madly Deeply*](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply) (1990, Fi1m 80): A London widow, a husband who will not quite leave, and no cheap consolation; and [*Rye Lane*](https://film.one/film/rye-lane) (2023, Fi1m 78): A London romantic comedy with the energy this one keeps reaching back for. ### Reviews we read (23) - **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (5/5): This is easily the best of the four films and a terrifically funny, well-judged entry that mines Bridget’s new life as a widow in her 50s for big laughs and bigger emotions. Zellweger is delightful, and Hugh Grant nails the elegiac yet rascally tone. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-renee-zellweger/) - **The i Paper**, Sarah Carson (90/100, inferred): The critic declares the film perfect and the best since the original, hailing it as a deeply moving, joyful and profound exploration of grief, motherhood and love with irresistible charm. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/bridget-jones-mad-about-boy-review-perfect-loved-3531205) - **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (90/100, inferred): Comfortably the best Bridget Jones outing since the first film, a front-to-back delight with a light heart despite its grief theme. Zellweger delivers the secret sauce in a wise, klutzy performance full of great gags, strong supporting turns from Grant and Thompson, and moving ghostly cameos. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/london/news/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-021325) - **The AV Club**, Caroline Siede (B+): The critic calls it one of the best entries in the series and a mature dramedy about grief more than a standard rom-com, praising its grounded tone, affectionate homages, and strong screenplay focused on loss and new chapters in life. They note the quiet, lived-in relationships with returning characters as a highlight while critiquing some pacing issues and underdeveloped new supporting players. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review) - **Empire**, Laura Venning (4/5): The critic finds it a heartfelt, charming and surprisingly mature story of an imperfect woman finding joy amid grief, singling out the touching scenes with Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy/) - **Radio Times**, James Mottram (4/5): May just be the best Bridget Jones movie to date, a splendid fourth feature that balances humour and emotion perfectly after the previous limp outing. Zellweger is effortless as a widowed single mother navigating dating apps, with strong support from Grant, Thompson and new cast members in a mature, incisive script. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review/) - **The Guardian**, Wendy Ide (80/100, inferred): The critic finds Bridget sharper, wiser and funnier than before, making this the most satisfying Jones film since the first. Returning characters like Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver deliver the heart and humour, and the film is described as a joy like a big glass of pub wine. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/16/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-helen-fielding-renee-zellweger) - **Vulture** (80/100, inferred): The review finds the film understatedly pleasurable as Bridget finally feels grown up and off the marriage-plot clock after tragedy, highlighting how it allows the character to be at peace with herself and rediscover desire. It singles out the warm reunions with the supporting cast, especially Hugh Grant’s evolved Daniel Cleaver, for praise while noting some predictable or fragmentary subplots. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/mad-about-the-boy-review-getting-older-with-bridget-jones.html) - **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): An oddly comforting, leisurely and nostalgic trip through a quarter-century of singleton antics that checks cynicism at the gate. It delivers a warm-hearted Working Title romcom with resonance from grief, national-treasure casting and a happy ending for fans, though it is structurally loose and tension-free. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review/5201811.article) - **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (2/3/3): A pleasant but forgettable return that gives Bridget grief to process but lacks the bite of the original. Zellweger and Grant remain charming in fan-service moments, yet the film feels serviceable with some dated jokes and little excitement beyond aspirational interiors. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy) - **Evening Standard**, Nick Curtis (2/5): The critic pans the film as a bloated, mawkish sogfest that blunders through tired tropes, with Zellweger’s performance becoming exaggerated and alienating. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-movie-review-b1210502.html) - **Sight and Sound** (40/100, inferred): The fourth Bridget Jones film is short on laughs and verges on self-parody, feeling like a concept that has run out of steam. It works at best as a moving meditation on ageing, grief and widowhood but lacks the sexual chemistry and comedy that defined the franchise. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bridget-jones-mad-about-boy-comedy-absent-from-bridgets-return) - **The Independent**: The critic calls it the best Bridget Jones sequel yet, praising Renée Zellweger’s sensational performance as a more vulnerable and honest widow navigating grief, parenting and new romances with subtlety. [Read](https://independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bridget-jones-review-mad-about-the-boy-renee-zellweger-b2698803.html) - **The New York Times**, Elisabeth Vincentelli (Critic's Pick): The film reconnects with the deft balance of bubbliness, high jinks and emotion that defined the original. Zellweger's return as the madcap Londoner is just as deliciously satisfying as the first movie, maybe even more. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/movies/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review.html) - **The Times** (★★★★☆): The series has improved with age and this may be the best one yet; it packs a surprisingly emotional wallop alongside the laughs as Bridget navigates widowhood, dating and family life. The film mines both light and dark notes perfectly. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/bridget-jones-get-better-with-age-review-dx6qf5nth) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a total delight that delivers laughter and tears for fans, with Zellweger slipping effortlessly back into her signature role. They single out the strong supporting cast and the director's lush production values. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/02/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-renee-zellweger-back-fourth-time-romcom-true-to-itself-1236286129/) - **Film Stories**, James Harvey (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it one of the best major UK rom-coms in years, crediting its authentic portrayal of grief and middle age while keeping the franchise's charm intact. Zellweger's performance and the vivid London setting stand out as highlights. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-the-top-gun-maverick-of-rom-coms) - **The Wrap** (85/100, inferred): The critic welcomes the film as a heartwarming new chapter in one of the best franchises, praising its humor, romance, and maturity as Bridget navigates grief and new beginnings. They single out Zellweger's exceptional performance and the ensemble cast. [Read](https://thewrap.com/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-renee-zellweger) - **HeyUGuys**, Linda Marric (4/5): Zellweger gives a charming and vulnerable performance as Bridget dealing with widowhood and new romance; the film blends heavier emotional themes with humor and features strong chemistry and a heartfelt script. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review/) - **Digital Spy** (3/5): The review calls the film warm and comforting fan service with fun new love interests and resilience, but notes some humor feels dated or reliant on the past. [Read](https://digitalspy.com/movies/a63754641/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review) - **NME**, Nick Levine (3/5): The critic finds the film delivers the expected belly laughs and emotional moments for fans, making Bridget relatable as a widowed mother navigating new suitors and middle age, even if some screenplay points feel trite. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review-big-heart-and-belly-laughs-from-a-90s-icon-3837334) - **Paste**, Jesse Hassenger (4.8/10): The film is a diluted but harmless return to the character as a widowed single mother, with some warm moments for fans but comedy that falls flat and upper-middle-class concerns that feel unrelatable. It praises Hugh Grant's character growth and notes the series seems to be wrapping up Bridget's story. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/renee-zellweger/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-renee-zellweger-sequel-peacock) - **Collider**, Emma Kiely: The review calls the film a gimmicky and hollow farewell to the franchise, devoid of the original's humor and reduced to sanitized fanfiction for a narrow audience. It singles out Chiwetel Ejiofor and Hugh Grant's charming performances for praise while criticizing Renée Zellweger's infantilizing portrayal of Bridget. [Read](https://collider.com/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Michael Morris - **Director:** Michael Morris - **Screenplay:** Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan - **Novel:** Helen Fielding - **Cinematography:** Suzie Lavelle - **Editor:** Mark Day - **Music:** Dustin O'Halloran - **Production design:** Kave Quinn - **Costume design:** Molly Emma Rowe - **Producer:** Jo Wallett, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner - **Cast:** Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones; Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scott Walliker; Leo Woodall as Roxby 'Roxster' McDuff; Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver; Jim Broadbent as Colin Jones; Gemma Jones as Pamela Jones; Colin Firth as Mark Darcy; Sarah Solemani as Miranda - **Runtime:** 2h 04m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 13 February 2025 - **Genres:** Romance, Comedy, Drama - **Budget:** $50 million - **Box office:** $140 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sSNobjiep4 ## Where to watch in the US - Peacock: streaming, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $7.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Bridget Jones's Diary* (2001), Fi1m 80: The original, still the funniest, before anyone had a house to worry about. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/bridget-joness-diary.md) - *Truly Madly Deeply* (1990), Fi1m 80: A London widow, a husband who will not quite leave, and no cheap consolation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply.md) - *Enough Said* (2013): Middle-aged dating done with wit, patience and two adults who actually talk. - *Things to Come* (2016): A Frenchwoman in her fifties starts over, and Isabelle Huppert refuses to be pitied. - *Rye Lane* (2023), Fi1m 78: A London romantic comedy with the energy this one keeps reaching back for. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rye-lane.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. 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