Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth McGovern, Penelope Wilton
Screenplay: Julian Fellowes
124 mins. Rated PG for suggestive material, smoking and some thematic elements.

It’s been fifteen years since television screens were graced with the first episode of Downton Abbey. Now, with six seasons and two movies in the rear view mirror, it’s time for one last Grand Finale, one more opportunity to say goodbye to the Crawley family and all the many faces that existed within the walls of the legendary estate. In that time, the various residents of Downton have seen love, loss, betrayal, and companionship, along with some solid box office revenue when the series shifted to theatrical films. While all three films that followed the series’ conclusion have been unnecessary, I’m certainly not going to complain about another two hours with the wonderful cast of performers and this delightful production.

The Crawley family and the staff at Downton are entering the 1930s, and eldest daughter Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery, The Gentlemen) has been harboring a secret: divorce. As the news breaks, the Crawley family has to weather the social ramifications of having a divorced woman about to take leadership of the Abbey. To add to the matters, Harold Levinson (Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers), brother to Lady Grantham, has arrived with a major financial catastrophe, but Mary’s sister Edith has an idea that may be able to right the wrongs going on as the Crawleys adjust to a new normal and head into the unknown future.

Making a series finale for a television show is difficult, as every fan and viewer has thoughts on how they think the story should conclude, and you have to find ways to subvert expectations a bit to keep things exciting. For the most part, the Downton Abbey series concludes in a fairly effective way. The three films to follow have felt like extended reunion episodes, mostly spinning wheels and replaying major conflicts from the show or having more self-contained plots. The Grand Finale is very much the film in the series that feels most connected to the series, and while it plays a lot of the same beats of the final season, I think it does so in a slightly more satisfactory way, leaving viewers in exactly the place that the show had always been moving toward while providing enough closure to the many characters operating within the walls of Downton.

The performances of the cast are now so ingrained after playing these characters for over a decade that there isn’t much to complain about, and some of the smaller returning players like Giamatti’s Harold fit nicely into the equation. The only character that feels like an afterthought is Mr. Sambrook, played by Alessandro Nivola. I think Nivola is doing what the role requires and trying to understand his motives for accompanying Harold to Downton make for an intriguing mystery, but the character just doesn’t really integrate within the story, and ultimately, he feels like an afterthought meant to create more drama.

Amongst the smaller players, I think fans of Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol, in a sequence with Daisy, has the most heartfelt of moments), Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle), and Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) will find some of the most enjoyable fare, even in a limited capacity, and I really enjoyed seeing the return of Thomas Barrow and Guy Dexter along with a very famous character that I hadn’t expected to fit nicely in the story. I should also point out the audience of Downton fans that all got noticeably excited when seeing Tom Branson (Allen Leech) show up in the film’s back half. The only player that felt noticeably short-changed this time around was Cora (Elizabeth McGovern, Kick-Ass), who had nothing of value in the script outside of replaying old conflicts and character beats.

Time has passed on for the residents of Downton Abbey, and while the films have been spinning their wheels a bit since the show ended, I can’t complain about spending two more hours with these characters. I think this supposedly final chapter is the most “inside baseball” of the three films, which may impact how its perceived by casual viewers, it’s also got a better ending than the show. They may be unnecessary, but I found The Grand Finale to be a worthwhile and lavish production (seriously, where is the Academy presence for these costumes?), and if this is indeed the ending for Downton, it goes out on a high note.

3.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe