Looking for Some Solace? The 'Paddington' Films Are the Definition of Comfort Watches

January 2025 has already had a very rough start. Destructive California wildfires, the death of creative legends, tech bros gone wild, freezing cold snaps ... Can Punxsutawney Phil just see his shadow now so there’s a mass excuse for us all to hide in our “burrows” for six more weeks? It’s not exactly a reasonable request, but maybe another mammal can save us: Paddington Bear.

While the third feature film in the Paul King (The Mighty Boosh) guided trilogy, Paddington in Peru, doesn’t arrive in U.S. theaters until February 14 — the U.K. got their fix last November — that delay makes the choice to bask in the restorative effects of a Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017) rewatch feel absolutely necessary.

Taken together as a double-header, the two films are the very definition of counter-programming to the current malaise, anxiety, and sadness that’s gripping all corners of this nation. It’s not lost on me the irony of our country mulling the very fabric of our democracy while I’m suggesting we look to an import from the country we purposefully left as a virtual salve. But then I offer that Paddington Bear is Peruvian in origin, so stuff your arguments. Just grab a comfy blanket, a hot tea, and the mandatory marmalade sandwich as I persuade you to either try the bear* or seek him out again for a hit of warm endorphins.