While there have been successful transitions from the small screen to the big screen, Downton Abbey might have landed the plane better than the rest. The series always builds its atmosphere with precision and brilliant plotting, allowing Julian Fellowes to play with a massive ensemble of talented performers. While Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale does not hope to reinvent the wheel, it definitely wraps up an era for the series. While there is much ado about this signaling a full ending to Downton on screen, it’s hard not to see potential in more from this charming tale.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Plot
While in London for the season, the Crawleys have one of their secrets exposed. With Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) thrust into the public eye, the family wants to return to Downton as soon as possible. Mary waits in London for her Uncle Harold (Paul Giamatti) and business associate Mr. Sambrook (Alessandro Nivola), while Robert (Hugh Bonneville) leads the rest of the family home.
However, news of the family secret has reached their estate and town, causing Mary to be seen as a town pariah. As the family grows used to new roles for themselves and the staff, Harold also comes clean: he’s lost the inheritance promised to Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern). The Crawleys must face some of their biggest tests to keep their livelihood intact, or else they’ll lose their place in society.
Brilliant craft remains impossible to ig nore.
If there’s one thing Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale continues to prove, it’s that the craft team on these movies is extraordinary. Director Simon Curtis allows his teams to go crazy with the sheer number of costumes and designs pushed into the frame. While there are scenes where only the family members and staff are present, there are at least a dozen sequences with thirty to forty fully dressed extras helping to fill out the world. They spared no expense, and the sheer variety of costumes during a scene at a horse derby is award-worthy unto itself. This is impressive, even for Downton.
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Additionally, the cinematography is rather slick. The sheen of TV lighting is completely erased from The Grand Finale. Sets and costumes are well-lit during dinner scenes, and the camera placement often maximizes the comedy. While there are a few scenes that blend in CGI or overlapping footage with less success, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale almost universally succeeds with its craftwork.
Wonderfully acted once again.
The cast is loaded, with Dockery and Bonneville playing out an extremely intriguing dynamic. Each actor builds on the characters they’ve built over twenty years, and they’re still able to access new emotional paths for each. However, they are somewhat overshadowed by others within their own family. Laura Carmichael takes over the screen in several scenes. This might be the best she’s ever been as Edith, and the character steps into a void the film was always going to have without Dame Maggie Smith. Carmichael makes Edith witty and fiercely protective throughout The Grand Finale, pulling through flashes of the show and turning them into confident character traits.
Sophie McShera also shines in an expanded role, not only in the local community but in the house. Her role as Parker shows her frustrations with cooking for the home and the constant changes in play. However, she also joins planning for a local event, and McShera plays the cook with the perfect blend of upbeat optimism and prodding mischief, knowing when she’s pushing the right buttons.
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It is surprising to see that Giamatti and Nivola were brought not only to this movie to be used sparingly. Both, but especially Giamatti, are underused. While they serve a much larger role in the plot of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the audience will likely forget them in favor of Simon Beale Russell’s puttering performance and Arty Froushan’s portrayal of the real playwright Noël Coward.
A love letter to the Downton Abbey fandom.
Ultimately, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale wants to reward the fans for showing up to another entry. Do you need to know every character to watch this movie? Absolutely not. Does it help? Of course. More importantly, some one-liners and jokes stand out with more knowledge.
We’re also given brilliant nods to key figures in the past. Smith’s portrait now oversees the Downton entryway. Long-dead characters and figures from their past are acknowledged for their roles in shaping the family. Iconic plots from the series set up jokes. This kind of fan service is rewarding for those of us who love the shows, but this does not necessarily make it better. It does add an emotional appreciation to the film, though, and if The Grand Finale really is goodbye, it was with a big hug.
Is Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale worth watching?
Yes, we think the final movie in the series will work for most audiences, regardless of how much you know about the series. One of the aspects of Downton that always made it shine was its ability to tell fully contained stories with its characters while requiring very little prior knowledge from the audience. The Grand Finale is more than a two-hour contained episode but instead a fun way to celebrate the past and future of the franchise.
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In all of the hullabaloo of this being marketed as the goodbye, it is hard to see why we would not return in the years ahead. The ending of the film is explicitly about the importance of younger generations taking over and the previous generations graciously handing off the baton. Whether more Downton Abbey demands Fellowes, Bonneville, or some other combination of figures is moot.
This franchise still has juice, and it seems unlikely this is a true goodbye for all the actors. We would love to explore the grounds with the next generation of Crawleys. While some actors and creatives may say they’re done, we could come back to this castle for years and never get tired of it.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale releases on September 12, 2025. Focus Features distributes.
