Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, 2025.
Directed by Simon Curtis.
Starring Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Phyllis Logan, Robert James-Collier, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, Allen Leech, Michael Fox, Penelope Wilton, Harry Hadden-Paton, Raquel Cassidy, Sophie McShera, Kevin Doyle, Lesley Nicol, Douglas Reith, Paul Copley, Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, Arty Froushan, Dominic West, Fifi Hart, Nathan Wiley, Lorna Nickson Brown, Rose Galbraith, Lisa Dillon, Sarah Crowden, Lucy Black, Oliver Barker, Nathan Hall, Eva Samms, Karina Samms, Zac Barker, Archer Robbins, and Robert Paul.
SYNOPSIS:
When Mary finds herself in a public scandal and the family faces financial trouble, the household grapples with the threat of social disgrace. The Crawleys must embrace change with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future.
As always with Downton Abbey, it must be stated upfront that despite having reviewed the prior two films, this critic has never actually seen Julian Fellowes’ TV series. So, if you’re looking for a critic who can give a richly informed perspective on Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – meaning every character, every subplot, every fan service reference, and every detail of an ending that simultaneously comes across as an actual sendoff (it has to account for nearly 25 minutes of the two hour runtime) with just enough skepticism that it will inevitably get a reboot following these characters further into the 1930s, you’re in the wrong place. However, if you enjoy American film critics writing for British websites and reporting on the conclusion of a deeply British series, you’re in the right place, yet you might also be slightly confused.
Fortunately, one doesn’t necessarily need to know all of the above to engage with this material; this finale is about change as the Crawleys enter a new decade, met with some resistance. At the center are two major stories, with the first being that the eldest daughter, Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery), is now divorced from Henry, which has dramatically reduced her social status to the point where the Royals and other high society families don’t want to be near her, let alone visit the Abbey. As such, it allows for some surface-level, albeit intriguing, look into the differences between British and American culture. In the latter, it is not frowned upon to that degree. Uncle Harold Levinson (a returning Paul Giamatti) travels abroad to help the Crawleys resolve some debts, bringing with him a businessman associate named Gus Sanbrook (Alessandro Nivola), a handsomely suave man who complicates matters further by seducing Mary.
Across this push-and-pull experimentation with an unexpected newfound sense of freedom amidst a controversial social status, Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) works with Harold to figure out how to pay off such debts and keep things running smoothly in the wake of Violet Crawley’s (Maggie Smith), the Dowager Countess of Grantham’s, death. This provides some mystery, while the film leaves no stone unturned when it comes to bringing in characters, whether they are still serving the Abbey or not. Even the butler role is heading into a transitional period.
Much like a Marvel movie, there’s an unmistakable feeling when a beloved character pops into frame (it’s usually accompanied by one of the more regular characters remarking, “Oh, it’s you!” or an inside joke is flying over one’s head. That’s also fine, considering that returning director Simon Curtis (once again working from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes) concisely conveys the major plot beats and themes, with some occasional universal humor and a decent enough understanding of each person’s personality. The editing is still unmistakably reminiscent of television, but the pacing is agreeable and the budget for the Abbey is once again seemingly put to good use. More importantly, there is some zip to the conversations even when not knowing who the hell half the people in it are.
Mainly, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is engaging even for non-fans, not only because it’s about something as universal as fighting change, but also because it illustrates who is struggling to change and what is stopping them from doing so. Likewise, for the social class aspect (which sometimes plays into the above), one doesn’t need to know everything about Mary to invest in her unjustly shamed arc and search for some form of liberation and acceptance. It’s also a film that turns out to be less about saving the Abbey in miraculous ways and more about using the current financial predicament as part of ushering in that change. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale makes for a solid finale, even with limited knowledge of the series.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
