In this tumultuous and troubling 2025, Paddington—the cheery and polite British bear in the red bucket hat and blue duffle coat—is the hero we need. In Paddington in Peru, he continues to be a wonderfully amusing and charming beacon of light.

The film also offers a welcome change of scene as Paddington and the Browns, the British family that adopted him, return to the bear's homeland in Peru to find his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton), now residing at a Peruvian retirement home for bears.

And that’s made Paddington not just a dearly beloved big-screen icon but something like the mascot to modern Britain — another guileless Pooh deserving of his own “The Tao of” bestseller. But if “Paddington 2” ascended to the ranks of all-time great sequels like “Toy Story 2” and “The Godfather Part II” (and it did),