Grab your gals; our favourite early-2000s frazzled English woman is back! The fourth adaptation from the Bridget Jones universe is here, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The film will follow the fourth book in the series ‘Mad About the Boy’, picking up about eight years after ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’.
The teaser campaign for the next instalment is underway, allowing us to look into Bridget’s current life. Bridget is now a widowed single mother to Billy and Mabel, as our beloved Mark Darcy is no longer with us. Bridget is now in her early fifties and figuring out single life and dating in the age of social media with the support of her group; Shazzer, Tom and Jude, her parents and Dr Rawlings. Bridget even has a younger man in her sights this time, with the star of Netflix’s adaptation ‘One Day’, Leo Woodall (28) joining the cast. Bridget attempts to handle single motherhood and dating in a new decade, with a particularly familiar face from her past reappearing in her life once more.
There have been divided reactions to the release of the fourth film; some are excited, others questioning why we even need a fourth. Nowadays the content of the first two films released in the early 2000s might be considered outdated and even problematic, some of it is still relevant over twenty years later. It’s no secret that diet culture was rampant in the early 2000s. Bridget was considered overweight despite being average-sized or even smaller.
Much of the content in the earlier films surrounded the idea that Bridget was not thin like other socially superior “stick-insect” women at the time. However, Bridget becomes progressively more self-accepting as the first two films progress as she is loved by Mark Darcy, who likes her very much, just as she is. In the third film, set over ten years after the previous instalment, Bridget was visibly thinner, down to her “goal weight” (pre-pregnancy, of course).
Looking back, Bridget was nowhere near as much of a loser as she was made out to be; she was gorgeous, had a fab flat in a great location, and a good job and two gorgeous men who constantly fought over her, both figuratively and literally; who could forget that iconic Mark vs Daniel fight sequence to ‘It’s Raining Men’? How were we supposed to pity this woman? All this aside, Bridget is still the lovable mess she always has been and makes us feel better about any small mistakes we make.
Of course, what’s a Bridget Jones film without a good love triangle? We may get another one this time and more, with the addition of Billy’s teacher, Mr Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and the introduction of younger prospect Roxter (Leo Woodall), who is over twenty years Bridget’s junior. A more age-appropriate romantic possibility also makes his return as Hugh Grant reprises his role as Bridget’s playboy ex-boyfriend, Daniel Cleaver.
Cleaver was revealed to be alive at the end of the third film, having somehow survived a catastrophic plane crash in the Australian bush. The trailer of the new film shows that Daniel is now regarded as a close friend to the family, having earned the title of “Uncle” from Bridget’s son Billy, or “Miniature Darcy” as Daniel calls him. Will Bridget give Daniel yet another chance? Does Bridget still need a romantic interest? It’s 2025; is she not allowed to be single and as happy as she can be without Mark? We could still see her trying to handle being a single mother without a love interest in the mix, and it would be just as hilarious. I know I’m counting down the days until the release of ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’ on Valentine’s Day.