Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Review

The Downton Abbey series has come to an end after five seasons and three films. The third and final film sees a changing of the guard at Downton Abbey as the Crawleys adapt to a changing world.

Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) finds herself at the centre of a scandal after her divorce is announced by the press, leading to her being ostracised. Mary’s plans for renovating Downton Abbey are put under threat when the Crawleys find out Cora’s (Elizabeth McGowan) brother, Harold (Paul Giamatti), has lost most of the family wealth due to a bad investment. However, Harold’s financial advisor, Gus Sanbrook (Alessandro Nessa), says he can recover the maternal family fortune, but it would require the sale of a property in America.

Downton Abbey has been a Great British success story. It became popular around the globe, and was such a pop culture phenomenon that American shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and How I Met Your Mother made references and parodies. It’s comfort viewing due to the mostly low-stakes drama, British wit, and picturesque locations. The first film treated the potential assassination of King George V as a minor inconvenience.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had a budget of $50 million. The filmmakers wanted to showcase this with a lavish opening, moving through the West End in the 1930s and entering a theatre. It was an ambitious opening, after which the film returned to familiar territory. The film moved back to Downton and the nearby town. It was picturesque, but it could have been high-end TV. The other big-budget scene was set at the famous Ascot racecourse, requiring numerous extras.

The film’s story (or should I say stories) also showed The Grand Finale’s television origins. It featured plotlines such as the Crawleys trying to restore Mary’s reputation, Sanbrook trying to convince the Crawleys to sell a house, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) resisting letting go of Downton Abbey and the family property in London, Carson (Jim Carter) and Daisy (Sophie McShera) joining the local village committee, and older members of the staff preparing to retire. It was a season of TV condensed into two hours. Like the TV series, the drama was low stakes, and the biggest danger was financial. Mary was given the most screentime in the film, and she acted as the main character.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale was made for fans of the series. Hardly a surprise considering the film was acting as a conclusion to a 15-year-long series. I went to see The Grand Finale with my sister-in-law, who’s a fan of the series, and she said she had a tear in her eye towards the end. There were moments of low-key fan service, like some softer characters having moments of strength, and a former staff member returning as a guest.

The film was made with a passing of the torch mindset. A younger generation who was being positioned to take over, even if some characters didn’t want to move on. Julian Fellows, the screenwriter and creator of Downton Abbey, is a conservative, and he used the film to show his worldview, that it’s better to move with the winds of change than to resist them. The Crawleys were willing to do it, and more reactionary forces were framed negatively.

The Grand Finale was a serviceable offering from the famous manor that offers light entertainment for fans of the show and an older demographic. It will be pleasant viewing on a wet Sunday afternoon.