How To Watch The Bridget Jones Movies In Order
If you’ve wanted to watch a messy story about a woman torn between two handsome leading men and a diary, then you'll find it in the Bridget Jones franchise, the epitome of British chaotic charm. Over a span of 25 years (seriously, 25!) and four films, you might be wondering what the best way to watch them is. The answer is simple, watch them in release order, because that was the way the story was built and naturally grows narratively, and how Bridget’s emotional journey evolves, along with her world and relationships (though, yes, the third film does try to “erase” out some of the events in the previous ones.)
Each of the movies can technically be watched as standalones, but people who haven’t watched the previous movies can find each subsequent movie a bit disorienting, as the movies presume a familiarity with the characters and offers additional depth to the plot. Reshuffling or watching the movies in any other order can break the rhythm, dilute the payoff, and leave you a bit confused. Some people (me included) would just watch the first one and pretend it’s a standalone, but I think skipping the rest of the movies would rob us of more Bridget (and why would we do that?) However, if you only have time to watch one movie from the franchise, let it be Bridget Jones’s Diary as the plot is pretty self-contained. Otherwise, here's the best way to watch the Bridget Jones movies; grab a pen and your journal to take notes!:
Let’s start with the strongest film in the entire franchise—Bridget Jones’s Diary. Renée Zellweger gives us a heroine who is lovable, insecure, romantic, and extremely relatable. I mean, we’ve all done the eating-ice cream-crying-to-sad-songs thing right? Right?! Anyways, she’s a hot mess armed with a journal and a bottle of wine, and we love her for it. The movie is meant to be a reimagining of Pride & Prejudice (with Colin Firth reprising his role as a modern Mr. Darcy; hilarious!) and perfectly balances struggles with comedy and romantic moments, giving us an awkward and flawed main character, who’s refreshingly far from being Pinterest-perfect (and of course, Hugh Grant plays his sleazeball role very convincingly.)
If you’ve felt like everyone else has everything worked out except for you, then you’ll find solace in Bridget’s world. I definitely think the first movie is the most honest, timeless, and emotionally rich of the bunch, and gets the audience invested in Bridget and her world. It’s as if Notting Hill were mixed with Fleabag. If you’re also someone who’s publicly awkward but privately hopeful—and enjoys watching 2000’s rom-coms—then this movie is for you.
If the first movie was like a trainwreck you couldn’t look away from, then get ready for round two with Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. We’re privy to more of Bridget’s inner chaos and more buttoned-up Darcy. Bridget takes things international in the sequel, with plotlines involving drug smuggling and Thai prison. Even Bridget’s shenanigans can’t really save the thin plot; it feels as though the writers tried to fit as many storylines as they could, to little success.
Edge of Reason feels more like a hangover that you’d get after experiencing the first movie’s high, with Bridget’s character development regressing a bit with her returning to her insecure and spiraling self. The movie does give us more Bridget and Mark, which is welcome, but we say goodbye to Hugh Grant (no, come back!) Think of it as The Hangover meeting a Hallmark Christmas movie in Thailand. The movie isn’t unwatchable per se, but I tried to treat it like a sitcom episode rather than an immediate sequel. If you go into it without expecting it to change your life, you may end up having a good time.
The third movie in the Bridget Jones franchise gives Bridget a huge responsibility—it makes her pregnant and confused between who out of the two charming men in her life could be the father. Arriving 12 years after Edge of Reason, Bridget Jones’s Baby shows Bridget as older and a little wiser and mature (emphasis on ‘a little,’ she’s still Bridget after all), yet still unsure about everything. Baby is once again silly, unserious, and surprisingly funny, even if it looks like Bridget forgot everything she learned in the last two movies. Patrick Dempsey replaces Hugh Grant—who is sorely missed—in this film.
Baby feels much more modern than Edge of Reason, but isn’t able to fully capture the emotional rawness of Diary. Baby also works very well as a standalone, as it references her past in a way where you needn’t have watched it. In fact, it sort of rebrands Edge of Reason as the “messy middle years we pretend don’t exist.” If you’re someone who has grown up watching the last two films and wants Bridget to get her happy ending, then Baby fulfills that dream. It’s also for fans of character-driven romcoms like The Holiday or rekindled romances like It’s Complicated.
Just when you think that Bridget has life figured out, bam! the tone changes again a decade later. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy gives us Bridget who is in her 50s and a single mom of two, dealing with Mark Darcy’s death (I know, we’re heartbroken too.) She’s now trying to find her way through the modern dating world. Mad About the Boy deals with some serious themes like loss, grief, aging, parenting, etc, but gives it the classic romantic, hilarious Bridget Jones twist we’ve grown to love and adore.
Bridget’s character is much more mature and complex in Mad About the Boy than in the other three movies. Mark’s absence is felt, though Hugh Grant is back as Daniel Cleaver. Fans who have grown accustomed to the Darcy-Jones-Cleaver love triangle may find that the new male protagonists don’t quite hit the mark; they add intrigue, but can’t replace the original dynamic. Fans of bittersweet dramedies or people going through midlife transitions while appreciating emotional arcs, will connect with Mad About the Boy.
