“Conventions make cowards of us all,” according to one of the stylishly dressed aristocrats at the heart of creator-writer Julian Fellowes’ latest installment in this series. It began on the small screen back in 2012 and ran for six award-winning seasons, before making the leap to the big screen with Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). This new film, directed by Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn, A New Era) provides closure for this remarkable cast and for their legions of fans around the world.
The themes of class, social customs, gender roles, privilege and inevitable change again permeate the narrative. The extended family drama which launched with the sinking of the Titanic has come forward to 1930 and the onset of the Great Depression. Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and his American-born wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), known to high society as Lord and Lady Grantham, have a fresh set of challenges. The divorce proceedings of their oldest daughter, the ever feisty Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), have gone final, although the scandalous repercussions have just begun. Their finances have also taken a blow, prompting a visit by Cora’s brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) from Baltimore. Conventions are coming under siege from all quarters.
Meantime, the downstairs denizens of this story are experiencing their own share of change. Having trained Andy Parker (Michael Fox) to succeed him as butler, Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) can’t quite let go of his penchant for propriety and perfection. Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt), who serves as Lady Mary’s maid, is pregnant with her second child but inevitably drawn into her mistress’ latest intrigues. They include the excessively flirty financial adviser Gus Sambrook (Alessandro Nivola). And Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) is preparing to ease into retirement with her farmer-husband (Mr. Mason), even as she gives her blessing to the increasingly confident Daisy (Sophie McShera) as her successor.
The parade of characters here includes a new one: Noel Coward, the legendary actor-singer-playwright portrayed with sly charm and humor by Arty Froushan (House of the Dragon). What better place than Downton Abbey to find inspiration for his comedy-of-manners, Private Lives. He also serves as a catalyst for reintroducing the likes of Guy Dexter, Thomas Barrow and the perpetually bemused Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle). In a scene reminiscent of Robert Altman’s Gosford Park (which earned Julian Fellowes an Academy Award for original screenplay), Coward entertains the household’s aristocrats and servants alike with an urbane ditty.
These various proceedings, whether played out at Grantham House in London or Downton Abbey itself in Yorkshire, have every measure of elegance you might expect. Cinematographer Ben Smithard gives a polish to every scene–Mr. Carson would undoubtedly approve–and his long, continuous tracking shot at the outset establishes the rhythm and tone of all that follows. Screenwriter Fellowes, for his part, manages to forego much of the perfunctory, dramatically undernourished scenes that populated the TV episodes in particular. Here the wealth of subplots has a much better sense of proportion and continuity. Director Curtis, the real-life husband of Elizabeth McGovern, excels at framing all of the posh and historic venues, as well as calibrating the oh-so-quotable dialogue. When Lord Grantham, who had previously delegated much of the running of the family properties to Lady Mary, reacts indignantly to one of her suggestions, he exclaims “I’m going to change!” So few words, yet so much meaning and irony.
If you’re already a fan, surely you’re wondering about the Dowager Countess, played so deliciously by Maggie Smith over the years. (Her “What is a weekend?” line is a certified classic.) Her character died in the 2022 movie, and she died last September. Her presence (in both respects) permeates the new film, with many poignant and specific references to her and her legacy, none more so than Lady Mary’s climactic descent of the abbey’s main staircase, pausing in the foyer to reminisce to the visual accompaniment of flashbacks from the television show itself. If you’ve followed these characters from the outset, prepare yourself for a glassy-eyed response.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is brimming with wit, intrigue and splendid costumes, accented by elements of social and historical transformation. The abbey has a new mistress, and the twentieth century still has enormous, cataclysmic events on its agenda. It’s not the greatest of all British period dramas–Brideshead Revisited retains that crown–but it’s a more than worthy finale for this enormous and talented cast. Cue composer John Lunn’s Emmy Award-winning theme and revel in this universe one more time.
