Bridget Jones, now a widowed single mother, navigates the challenges of parenthood, work, and modern dating with the support of her friends, family, and former partner, Daniel Cleaver. As she re-enters the dating world, she finds herself pursued by a younger man while also forming an unexpected connection with her son's science teacher.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy was first released in France on 12 February 2025, in the United States on the streaming service Peacock and in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2025 and internationally in cinemas by Universal Pictures on 14 February 2025.
Plot
Bridget Jones, now the mother of school-aged Billy and Mabel, prepares to go out for the first time in a long time. While Daniel Cleaver babysits her children, Bridget attends the celebration of life held for her late husband, Mark Darcy, who was killed four years earlier while on a humanitarian mission in Sudan. She spends the torturous evening accepting condolences and being pressured to start dating again.
Billy and Mabel are still awake when Bridget arrives home. Mabel observes a white owl that sits outside their window every night. Bridget reminisces about Mark singing to the children, and imagines seeing him do so. She then contemplates the often-contradictory advice and suggestions her friends and family offer. Recalling her father Colin's dying wish that she live life fully, coupled with Dr Rawlings's suggestion to return to work, Bridget is motivated to make a fresh start. After Miranda calls for suggestions on a live interview for her women's program, Bridget contacts Richard and becomes a show producer.
Just as Bridget decides to re-enter the dating world, she meets 29-year-old park ranger Roxster, who pursues her on Tinder, and, after days of texting, they arrange a date. Bridget's friends offer advice before they go out. Bridget and Roxster's relationship evolves over the summer, with Mabel quickly labelling him as their "new daddy". Billy, still struggling to cope with his father's death, is less enthusiastic.
Bridget is invited to Billy's class to discuss her job as a television producer. To demonstrate, she chooses a girl to act as producer, while she assumes the role as the presenter and interviews science teacher Scott Walliker. A seemingly simple explanation about an insect's life cycle turns more serious as Bridget asks questions about whether all living creatures have souls.
At a birthday party for Bridget's colleague, Roxster makes a grand entrance. As they enjoy the evening, Roxster makes an offhand comment about wishing for a time machine. The next morning, Bridget awakens to find him gone. He subsequently ghosts her.
Daniel, hospitalised due to a heart scare, contacts Bridget, feeling she is the only person who might care about him. He reflects on how alone he is, mentioning how he has not seen his teenage son for over a decade. Bridget, who deeply misses her deceased father, encourages Daniel to reconnect with his son.
Roxster shows up at the studio to apologise to Bridget. He admits to having panicked, but declares that he is now ready to commit to her and the children. Bridget expresses the wish for a time machine so he could catch up, but she turns him down. That evening, after once again looking over her articles and memorabilia of Mark, she writes a heartfelt message to him. On Mark's birthday, Bridget, Billy and Mabel go to a park to release balloons with their messages to him attached.
On a school trip to the Lake District, Bridget chats with Scott. He says he always expected to have children, but it never happened. When Bridget leaves to soothe a child, Billy confides to Scott that he fears forgetting his father. Scott assures him that his father is a part of him, so will never be fully gone.
At the school winter holiday pageant, Billy sings "I'd Do Anything" as a tribute to his father. Bridget knows Mark would have been proud. She thanks Scott for helping her family heal, and invites him to join them and her friends at a pub afterwards. Arriving at the pub, Scott turns around to leave, but Bridget catches him outside. He confesses he is drawn to her, much like Newton's third law of being equal but opposite, before Bridget kisses him.
A year later, Bridget throws a New Year's Eve at her house for her family and friends, including Scott and Daniel, who has reunited with his 16-year-old son Enzo. After the party, as Bridget tucks the children into bed, they observe as the owl flies away, which Scott also witnesses downstairs. Scott helps Bridget unzip her dress, and they kiss.
In addition, UK broadcast journalists Gillian Joseph, Gamal Fahnbulleh, Daniel Heard and Maryam Moshiri have cameo appearances as themselves, in a montage of news reports in the film.
The score for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy was composed by American pianist Dustin O'Halloran.[15] His original music was released as the film's official soundtrack on 14 February 2025 through Back Lot Music, a division of Universal Studios Music.[16] The same day, Universal Music Recordings issued Bridget Jones's Diary: The Mixtape, a compilation of a selected songs from across the Bridget Jones film franchise that was produced in collaboration with the franchise's music executive producer, Nick Angel.[17] Apart from songs from the first three Bridgte Jpnes films, a selection of songs from Mad About the Boy were also featured, including recordings from Jessie Ware, Al Green, Raye, and Dinah Washington as well as Olivia Dean's original song "It's Not Perfect, But It Might Be," which plays over the film's ending credits and served as the soundtrack's lead single.[15][16] The song debuted at number 60 on the UK Singles Chart,[18] while the soundtrack reached number 64 on the UK Albums Chart.[19]
Release
The film was first released in France on 12 February 2025, on 13 February 2025 on Peacock and in cinemas in the United Kingdom and in cinemas internationally on 14 February 2025 by Universal Pictures.[20]
Box office
The film made $35.5 million from 71 countries in its international opening weekend, with the largest markets being the United Kingdom and Ireland ($14.8 million), Australia ($3.3 million), and France ($3.3 million).[21] By its second weekend, the film had a global gross of $67.6 million, including $34.5 million in the UK, $6 million in Australia, $4.2 million in Poland, $3.3 million in the Netherlands, and $1.9 million in Spain.[22]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 110 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.The website's consensus reads: "A bittersweet romp about new beginnings with another sparkling turn by Renée Zellweger, Mad About the Boy gracefully closes the book on Bridget Jones' diary."[23]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[24]
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