It is a truth universally acknowledged that there was some drop-off in quality between the first incomparable Bridget Jones film and its sequels, but this cheap would-be spiritual successor will have you crawling after even the worst Bridget film begging for forgiveness. Ghosted hews close to the template, to the point of feeling like a tribute act – but unfortunately not the kind of tribute act that sells out arenas but the kind that plays down the Dog & Duck of a Saturday night.
Mercy (Jade Asha) is unhappily single, on the hunt for Mr Right, and hoping to improve her career (ideally from waitress to international acting superstar). Part of the film’s problem is that Bridget Jones’ Diary is of its time, and to hear a 30-year-old supposedly modern and progressive heroine in 2025 complain that she is a decade older than the majority of singles definitely feels dated. Thirty in 2025 is not the same as 30 in the 1990s, and it’s peculiar to watch someone today bemoan it as the end of their youth.
It also doesn’t help that the Ghosted’s narration borrows so overtly from Bridget-speak, including the dropping of personal pronouns and definite articles as in the original – but without a diary as the prop, the point of these pleasing abbreviations vanishes completely. Meanwhile the attempts to wring the same humour from pratfalls and workplace calamities fails utterly.
Perhaps worst of all, Mercy is still drawn to a cad long after he reveals himself to be dodgy. It’s as if Bridget had responded to Daniel Cleaver’s cheating not with vodka and Chaka Khan but by inventing terrible excuses for why it was OK and by letting herself be treated like a doormat. It may be true to how people behave in real life, but if you’re trying to create a fun romantic comedy, you need a perfectly imperfect heroine you can cheer on.
• Ghosted is on digital platforms from 21 July.
