Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Story

Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is a widow and single mother to her children, Billy (Casper Knopf) and Mabel (Mila Jankovic). Four years after her husband Mark Darcy’s (Colin Firth) tragic death, Bridget decides that it’s time to reconnect with the world.

With the help of her dysfunctional but well-meaning friends, she jumps into both work and the dating pool, and she ends up being pursued by a much younger man.

Life turns out to be more complicated for Bridget as she reconnects with the idea of romance and sexuality, while navigating her own grief and the realities of parenthood.

Themes

Grief and loss; death of a parent; romance and sex; parenthood

Violence

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has some violence. For example:

It’s implied that Bridget’s husband was killed as part of an attack on an overseas humanitarian mission.
Bridget yells at someone during a mock interview for her son’s class.
Bridget verbally lashes out at her doctor, blaming the doctor for ‘making’ her put herself out there again after Mark’s death.
During an internal monologue, Bridget verbally berates a young female character for being ‘young, beautiful and perfect’.
Bridget stumbles and falls, face first, in a slapstick way.

Sexual references

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has some sexual references. For example:

People talk about ‘shagging’ and getting ‘laid’.
People refer to body parts including ‘boobs’, ‘labia’ and ‘vagina’.
When Bridget sees attractive men, her internal monologue is highly sexual. She says things like ‘Oh f-ck’ and ‘I’ve climbed a magical man tree’.
Characters discuss Bridget getting a Brazilian wax before her date.
A friend tells Bridget to ‘widen her f-cking circle’, before they collapse onto the bed laughing.
Bridget’s sex life is discussed often and openly, with people saying things like ‘If you don’t get laid soon, your vagina will fuse’.
A man refers to giving Bridget ‘earth-shattering orgasms’.
Bridget is called ‘a very naughty nun’.
A man jumps into the water and swims in a highly sexualised way, while several older women leer at him.
While Mabel is in a doctor’s office, she reads flyers about sexual health and STDs, including thrush, gonorrhoea and syphilis.
A character refers to ‘sodomy in a Sainsburys’.
A 16-year-old boy seduces a middle-aged female character, in a jokingly sexual way.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy shows some use of substances. For example:

Characters drink beer, wine or cocktails at almost every social event.
Bridget twice uses alcohol to cope with her emotions. She drinks wine straight from the bottle until she’s drunk when trying to understand her husband’s death and also when her boyfriend ghosts her.
Bridget drinks wine alone several times.
Bridget jokes that she left crystal meth at home with her children.

Nudity and sexual activity

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

Bridget and a man kiss passionately and undress to their underwear, before falling back onto the bed. The scene cuts to them under the sheets, which suggests they’ve had sex.
As they kiss on the bed, a man says to Bridget, ‘You make me so hard, baby’.
Bridget and a man kiss passionately several times.
Men are shown shirtless several times.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy:

Coca-Cola No Sugar is shown in the refrigerator.
Bridget uses a Microsoft laptop.
Billy often plays on a Nintendo Switch.
Bridget uses a Logitech headset.
Tinder is mentioned and shown on screen several times.
Bridget watches Netflix.
A character buys Durex condoms.
Listerine is shown in the bathroom.
Mabel yells about watching SpongeBob SquarePants.
A close up of the Motorola logo on a car is shown.

Coarse language

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has very frequent coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is the impressive fourth instalment of the Bridget Jones franchise, based on the book series of the same name by Helen Fielding. The movie continues the iconic, and sometimes cringe-inducing, humour and comedy of earlier movies. But this movie has a slightly darker and heart-wrenching angle because of its raw approach to navigating grief.

Because of its focus on grief, as well as its sexual references and frequent coarse language, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy isn’t suitable for children under 15 years. We also recommend parental guidance children aged up to 17 years.

These are the main messages from Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy:

It’s important to learn to love and trust in yourself.
The people we lose are always a part of who we are.

Values in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy that you could reinforce with your children include courage, perseverance, curiosity, family, and the importance of moving forward.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the following:

Many of Bridget’s peers pressure her to get getting back into dating and having sex before she feels ready. Do you think that this is helpful or appropriate?
How does this movie portray sex? You might want to discuss respectful sexual relationships and feelings about being about sex.
Bridget dates and sleeps with a significantly younger man and feels bad about herself. Why do you think that she feels this way?
Billy struggles with his father’s death. How do the the adults in Billy’s life support him through these feelings?
How do Bridget and her family grieve for Mark? You might want to discuss the unhealthy coping mechanisms like drinking alcohol, as well as the healthy ways they work through their grief.