I Watched Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Without Seeing The Other Movies First. Why It's A Great Watch For Newcomers

When I saw Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy on the 2025 movie schedule, I wanted to do my homework and watch its predecessors. However, while my colleague Mike Reyes did go back and watch the Bridget Jones movies, I did not. That didn’t stop me from giving Mad About the Boy a chance, though. Now, I’m pleased to report that you can have a splendid time watching Renée Zellweger’s latest outing as her beloved character with little to no knowledge about what happened in the three movies that came before it.

Now, obviously, you’ll probably have a more meaningful experience if you’ve seen the great rom-com Bridget Jones’s Diary and its sequels, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’s Baby, first. However, if you don’t have that kind of time and just want to watch a sweet film with your Peacock subscription, I can almost guarantee you won’t be lost or uninterested in this story without prior knowledge of Ms. Jones’s love life.

Personally, before I watched Mad About the Boy, all I remembered was that Colin Firth and Hugh Grant played Zellweger's love interests. Honestly, that’s all I needed to know too, to have a grand old time with the series' fourth film, and here’s why:

The Love Story In Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Is Totally New

This isn’t a spoiler, it’s established in the Mad About the Boy trailer, Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy – Bridget Jones’s love interest through the first three films – died before the events of this movie. So, this fourth installment follows Bridget as she handles her grief, learns to live without her love and moves forward.

Part of that moving forward is her getting back into the dating game, which is where Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mr. Wallaker and Leo Woodall’s Roxster come in. They’re completely new characters in this universe, who are learning about and falling for Bridget in this film.

Like these two men, I was also essentially learning about Bridget for the first time. So, it was easy to follow along, because most of the main characters were also just getting to know Zellweger’s character.

By having this story focus on two new love interests and a completely new chapter of Bridget’s life, it separated itself from the first three films – which all feature Firth in a starring role. While Mark was still essential to this fourth installment, knowing his and Bridget’s full story was not 100% necessary. And thankfully, the flick also did a marvelous job of cluing this clueless viewer into the necessary lore needed from the past to understand the present.

While There Are References I’m Sure I Missed, This Bridget Jones Movie Does A Wonderful Job At Explaining The Necessary Lore

While I’m fully aware that knowing all the best Bridget Jones quotes and scenes would have made this viewing experience even better, I also want to scream from the rooftops that I loved Mad About the Boy and was so emotionally invested in it without that knowledge.

That was because the film gave us everything we needed to know. Without spoiling anything, I was so emotional because I could clearly see how much Bridget and her kids love and adore Firth’s late character. They talk about him all the time, and we get to see Bridget’s other old love interest, Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver in all his flirty and sassy glory.

I was immediately connected to both these old characters and understood why Bridget loves them. That was because the movie meaningfully worked them and their pasts into the plot without it overtaking everything or being boring exposition.

Therefore, as she explored relationships with Mr. Wallaker and Roxster, I knew the bare minimum lore needed to understand just how big a deal it was that she was moving forward.

Overall, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is a lovely tale about a woman learning how to live with a devastating loss, trying to be a single parent and working to find love again. It’s a joyous tale that feels like a great continuation of this series. However, it also stands boldly, proudly, and lovingly on its own, making for a film I think anyone can watch and adore.