Bridgerton | Glittering romantic comedy royalty

Notting Hill, When Harry Met Sally, Love Actually, The Holiday, The Devil Wears Prada or the first Bridget Joneswhy does the cinema no longer produce romantic comedies of this high caliber, filled with humor, intelligence, Julia Roberts and misunderstandings?

With the 1990s no longer taking off from popular culture and the Y2K wind (horrible clothing from the early 2000s, help) blowing very hard, one would have thought that this sweet and touching nostalgia would cover the big screen, such as a sea of ​​layered camisoles in a bar in 2005.

But no. The romantic comedy has migrated to the small screen, where it flourishes on digital platforms, while muscular, lycra-clad superheroes are used to sell $15 movie tickets and buckets of popcorn at Guzzo.

Warning: the film The Idea of ​​You (The idea of ​​being with you) from Amazon Prime Video looks like a cracking movie that Cameron Diaz would have starred in in 1998. It’s a trap.

Nobody believes in the single mother played by Anne Hathaway, who is languishing in love (well yes, that’s it) and who reconnects with her eros in the arms of the Temu version of Harry Styles. The camp scenes at the Coachella music festival are extra cringe, as are the original songs by the fake band August Moon, One Direction’s Fashion Nova counterpart, which might sound better on magic mushrooms.

In short, all this to say that the best romantic comedies now unfold over several seasons, rather than in a 90-minute format. Netflix factory Emily in Paris, Never Have I Ever, Heartstopper And One Day. Amazon Prime is banking on The Summer I Turned Pretty And Normal People. And there is The Bridgertons Chronicle, which evolves in a royal class of its own. It’s still so tasty, syrupy, sexy and soapy.

The popular English Regency soap opera returns to its luxurious carriage for four new episodes, available in English and French, on Netflix. The rest of the third season will arrive, on a little golden platter, on June 13.

This new social season revolves around Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and his childhood best friend – and neighbor across the street – Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), a lively, comical, well-read and unmarried young woman. No tricks here: Bridgerton fans already know that Penelope secretly writes Mayfair’s most scandalous gossip paper under the pseudonym Lady Whistledown, the Gossip Girl of the corseted aristocracy.

The fiery Eloise Bridgerton – Colin’s sister, don’t lose the embroidery thread – also knows it, which caused a nuclear dispute last season between the two best friends, who no longer share the same umbrella. Such a waste. Eloise and Penelope, my two favorite idealists of the 19th century^e century, formed the most modern and funniest duo in the series Bridgerton. You surely suspect that a walk of reconciliation is being planned, on the way to the talkative milliner, Genevieve Delacroix, the false Parisian.

But back to Colin. At the end of the summer of 1815, he returned from a four-month trip almost more confident and Casanova than his brother Benedict. At the first in a long series of sumptuous balls, he wanders through an audience of blushing debutantes, who flutter their eyelashes and fans with surprising speed.

Obviously Penelope Featherington has a crush on her handsome Colin. Tired that her dance book is not filling up, Penelope treats herself to a complete makeover, like What Not to Wear in 2007. No more lemon yellow dresses and severe buns. Penelope embraces her bouncy red curls and shows off more cleavage thanks to a refreshed wardrobe. Oh yes, Penelope also asks Colin for help to (finally) get rid of her spinster label. She is 19 years old in the series, I would like to remind you of that, thank you.

Of course Colin and Penelope will share the same title of nobility. It’s exactly that, Bridgerton, Harlequin fantasy wrapped in a baggy suit and accompanied by a mountain of politeness. Oh, please, mama! Where does this catchy pianoforte tune come from?

It’s predictable, elegant and comforting, Bridgerton. And what a delight for the eyes and ears: the sparkling dresses, the polished language, the frenzied quadrilles, the back-breaking bows, the majestic settings and certainly a contemporary pop song (Cheap Thrills by Sia) covered by a string quartet.

The second main plot of Bridgerton 3 is about Francesca Bridgerton, the flattest of the eight Bridgerton children, who spreads her feathers for the first time in front of Queen Charlotte. Francesca only talks about classical music and rare scores and it’s boring on average. Baby, my lady.

Secondary characters always enhance the wedding market by Bridgerton. I think of Penelope Featherington’s two silly sisters, their ultramotherly mother, the wicked Cressida Cowper, the scribbler Lady Danbury as well as Violet Bridgerton, the goodness incarnate who encourages her children to listen to their hearts rather than relying on CV of their suitors.

Alone since the death of her husband Edmund Bridgerton, stung by a murderous bee, Violet has not yet flirted with the single earls, dukes and barons in her wealthy social circle. What if Violet started to hear the little beats of her big heart?

For the rest of this sentimental story, dear beloved readers, make a little space in your summer calendar. The new season of high society has only just begun.