‘Book Club: The Next Chapter’ Blu-Ray Review – A Pleasant Yet Low-Stakes Comedic Romp

The highly anticipated sequel follows our four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.

For in-depth thoughts on Book Club: The Next Chapter, please see my colleague Caillou Pettis’s review from its original theatrical release here. 

Video Quality

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment brings Book Club: The Next Chapter to Blu-Ray in its original 1.85:1 with a very pleasant 1080p video presentation that captures this journey perfectly. The image is crisp and clean with the bright color palette of the natural environment radiating off the screen. The film utilizes splashes of vivid colors within the locales, clothing and production design, which makes for a very striking image. The black levels are appropriately deep and inky, but digital noise does prove to be the slightest issue in a handful of moments. The highlights are likewise maintained well with no blooming at play. 

The skin tones are natural with gentle nuances showcased well in close-ups and medium shots. The presentation provides a tremendous amount of depth on display, especially when contrasted with the architecture on display. The details of each location are always impressive under all conditions. The film has a natural aesthetic which is represented well on disc. This is as beautiful of a presentation as any modern movie should provide on Blu-Ray. Universal has delivered exactly as they need to. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that comes alive in the best ways. The score and soundtrack does an admirable job of establishing the mood of the narrative, and this track fills the room in a truly immersive way. Dialogue comes through crisp and clearly without ever falling victim to overlapping voices or other environmental noises. Everything is mixed precisely with directionality carefully  rendered across the channels. The sounds of the city soundscape provide a good amount of activity in the rear channels, and music and other kinetic moments add texture in the low end. Universal has provided a track that brings vivid life to this story. There are optional English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles provided. 

Special Features

• Book Club – Back In Session: A six-minute featurette which takes a look at the reunion of the dynamic movie stars, what their characters are up to, the details they bring to their characters, the atmosphere on set and more.

• Still Stylish: A nearly six-minute piece which takes a look at all of the outfits on display, what they mean for each character and more. 

• The Women In Italy: A nearly six-minute look at the decision to shoot on location in Italy, what the atmosphere brought to the set, the logistical challenges they faced on this shoot and more. 

Final Thoughts

Book Club: The Next Chapter is a comforting bit of adult-skewing entertainment which builds on the relative success of the first movie to mixed results. The dynamic between the core four women of the cast is as endearing as ever as it takes the spotlight with most of the men on the sideline until the appropriate time. Freeing these legends up to just bounce off one another while traveling through beautiful locations is one of the smartest things you can do. Mary Steenburgen especially proves to be a comedic standout in this entry. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie does not quite deliver the consistency of laugh-out-loud moments that we want. The movie is a very pleasant viewing experience, but we need  just a bit more to make it completely rewarding. Universal Picture Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray that sports fantastic A/V presentation and a few brief special features. If you are a fan of these legendary ladies, this one is still worth checking out. Recommended 

Book Club: The Next Chapter will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD on July 11, 2023. The film is currently available on Digital. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.