TL;DR – An odd finale full of charm from start to finish, but also a great deal of awkwardness.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Review Introduction –

It looks like we have reached the end of the grand experiment that was the Downton Abbey cinematic experience. After the original Downton Abbey film in 2019, and the follow-up Downton Abbey: A New Era back in 2022, I had wondered if there would be any more, especially after the passing of Maggie Smith’s character, who was such an anchor for the series. Well, today we get to see if they will land this series in a triumph or worse with an uninteresting thud.

So, to set the scene, it is now the 1930s, and grand changes are looming on the horizon of both England and the world. In Downton Abbey, this is marked by Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), hoping that Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) will be ready to take over running the entire household. This was meant to be a great handing over from one generation to the next. However, a scandal erupts throughout higher society when it is announced rather publicly in the press that Lady Mary is getting a divorce, an unmitigated scandal for those prim and proper people in polite society. Now the entire household has been shunned, and the question remains if this will be enough to shut down Downton Abbey for good.  

The Charm

The one thing that I had in my head as I walked out was just how charming the whole production is. Some of these actors have been playing their characters for over fifteen years, and you can feel that experience in every scene. That familiarity is both a bonus for the audience and for the story, because you don’t need as much work in setting the scene; you can just run with it. Which is what we get here today, as we get the great scandal in the first minutes of the film, and it does not let up from there.

As it is the end, one of the narrative devices that they explore is these small vignettes between different characters, giving the world one final goodbye. While they do have an impact on the flow of the film, you can help but laugh along as Sir Hector Moreland (Simon Russell Beale) continues to get more flustered as the film powers on. Or Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol) confiding in Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan). Then there is all the pomp and circumstance, and while the British might not be good at some things, they get pomp and circumstance.    
 
From a narrative perspective, they lean all in on the ‘endings’ theme, as many of the characters are at the point of retiring, which means that we are constantly being reminded that we are here for the series last dance. It does elicit an odd emotion of loss, even if you are not watching the film through the lens of fifteen years of nostalgia. Given how much the show and movies were based on the sharp wit of Maggie Smith, it was good to see other characters step up to fill that void successfully. The best example of this is probably Edith Pelham, the Marchioness of Hexham (Laura Carmichael), showing that there are some people you should never cross.

The Awkwardness

However, while I was watching the film, I could not help but feel this undercurrent of narrative awkwardness permeate the movie. Part of it comes from the narrative choice to lean into the ending with gusto. It took so many different moving parts to land the film at the end that you can’t help but see the narrative gears working in the background, trying to keep the movie on track. You see this in the flow of the film, where we jump around like a rabbit on a trampoline from one snippet to the next. In trying to serve so many plot lines, you can feel things get lost in the shuffle.

I think part of this stems from the fact that the film is still partly stuck in its television origins. There are many plot lines where I could see them working in a full season of television, even a truncated British season of television. But here we strip the narrative down to the barest of bones so we can fit it all in. A good example of this is a surprise character who walks around with a “I’m a slimeball American that you can’t trust” sign in the first scene, who goes around being a slimeball until he is ushered out of the story. Yet, he is still trusted most of the time. I can see how that could have worked across a season when we had time to flesh the character out and make them less one-dimensional, so that the betrayal reveal would have had impact. Instead, it just makes a lot of the characters look silly for a good portion of the film.     

Then there is the area the series and films have always suffered in, the social commentary. The series has always wanted to have its red velvet cake and eat it too when it comes to exploring class relations of the past through a modern lens. The film struggles to balance modern sensibilities with historical authenticity, especially in its portrayal of class and societal norms. In this, they want us to be sympathetic to Mary as a pariah in society, but that is hard to do when she has people to dress her. You can also feel like the divorce storyline is trying to be a stand-in for other forms of persecution and shunning, and it just does not work like that. Also, it gets oddly meta in places for no reason, and it pulls you out of the film.   

Conclusion

In the end, do we recommend Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale? Look, I think you will know if you want to see this film before I even write my review. If you have been a fan of the Downton Abbey series, then watching the apparent final act is an easy choice. Also, if you are a fan of pomp and circumstance, there are a few films out there that can even get close to this. For everyone else, I am not sure if the finale is the right point to see what all the fuss is about. Also, without that love and nostalgia for the series, you may notice the story’s seams showing, like a poorly hemmed pair of trousers. Have you watched Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, we would recommend The Dressmaker for how they have the ability to capture a time and a place. 

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Directed by – Simon Curtis
Screenplay by – Julian Fellowes
Based on – Downton Abbey by Julian Fellowes
Music by – John Lunn
Cinematography by – Ben Smithard
Edited by – Adam Recht
Production/Distribution Companies – Carnival Films, Focus Pictures & Universal Pictures
Starring – Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Elizabeth McGovern, Paul Giamatti, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, Joely Richardson, Laura Carmichael, Phyllis Logan, Allen Leech, Robert James-Collier, Alessandro Nivola, Sophie McShera, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Penelope Wilton, Jim Carter, Kevin Doyle, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Harry Hadden-Paton, Douglas Reith, Simon Russell Beale, Fifi Hart, Arty Froushan, Sarah Crowden, Paul Copley, Lisa Dillon, Oliver Barker, Eva Samms, Karina Samms, Rose Galbraith, Nathan Wiley, Lucy Black & Lorna Nickson Brown
Rating  – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: na; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: PG; United States: PG