By Laura BennettWednesday 18 Dec 2024Hope AfternoonsMoviesReading Time: 2 minutes
Synonymous with marmalade sandwiches, tea with the late Queen and exceptional manners, Paddington’s return in Paddington in Peru is a sweet salve in a society predisposed to being sour.
Key points
- There’s something entirely comforting about seeing Paddington on screen again.
- Paddington’s return in Paddington in Peru is a sweet salve in a society predisposed to being sour.
- Paddington in Peru repeatedly references how hope can be the light we need in times of darkness
Seven years since we last saw Paddington (Ben Whishaw), our favourite British bear has officially cemented his status as a local, getting his passport and immediately putting it to good use to see his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton).
Reaching out from the home for retired bears, Lucy has been missing Paddington – or so we’re told from the home’s Reverend Mother (Olivia Coleman) – but when Paddington arrives to see his aunt she’s disappeared in mysterious circumstances.
Paddington’s return in Paddington in Peru is a sweet salve in a society predisposed to being sour.
With his London family the Brown’s in tow, Paddington ventures into the jungles of Peru to find her, learning more about his heritage in the process.
Perhaps it’s the nostalgia of seeing Paddington again or how he reminds us of the gentle “grandmotherly” nature of Queen Elizabeth II, but there’s something entirely comforting about seeing him on screen.
Against the backdrop of our modern culture with its fluid views of morality, faith and justice, Paddington has a very clear sense of right and wrong that’s uncompromising, but gentle.
When he stares down a villain for “bad behaviour” there’s no malice, just sincere belief that that’s not how someone should act. Paddington’s inherent assumption that everyone is good at heart leads him to be misled at times, but he doesn’t ever seem to hold it against anyone.
There’s something entirely comforting about seeing Paddington on screen again.
Paddington may be miffed, but there’s no divisive “keyboard warrior” here: just a bear politely voicing his views and allowing comeuppance to find you as it will.
Paddington in Peru repeatedly references how hope can be the light we need in times of darkness – when fearing for the fate of Aunt Lucy – and when Paddington embodies hope, the impact that has on everyone around him.
Paddington in Peru repeatedly references how hope can be the light we need in times of darkness.
The themes of family and finding your place that made the previous Paddington films so endearing linger in this third instalment, reiterating that “family” isn’t about where you’re born but where you feel you belong.
Paddington in Peru is in cinemas January 1.
Feature image: All photos supplied and used with permission.