Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (dir. Simon Curtis)
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 124 mins
UK Distributor: Universal Pictures
UK Release Date: 12 September 2025
WHO’S IN DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE?
Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Paul Copley, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggart, Paul Giamatti, Harry Haddon-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Douglas Reith, Dominic West, Penelope Wilton, Simon Russell Beale, Arty Froushan, Alessandro Nivola, Joely Richardson
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Simon Curtis (director), Julian Fellowes (writer, producer), Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge (producers), John Lunn (composer), Ben Smithard (cinematographer), Adam Recht (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The residents and staff of Downton Abbey prepare for an uncertain future…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE?
Nobody could have predicted that a historical costume drama with more characters and sub-plots than your average soap opera would become such a phenomenon, yet Downton Abbey surprised us all by going from comfortable Sunday night ITV viewing to international acclaim, multiple awards (among them Emmys, Golden Globes and BAFTAs), and now a whole trilogy of theatrical continuations that audiences have turned into box office hits. Whatever the magic ingredient may be, viewers certainly can’t get enough of the British pleasantries and dry wit that creator and writer Julian Fellowes dishes out so effortlessly.
But even Fellowes seems to recognise that it can’t go on forever, as he’s now positioning this third film, suitably subtitled The Grand Finale, as the definitive end to his saga. As with The Conjuring: Last Rites, it remains to be seen if such finality is permanent given its wide popularity, but even if this is indeed the end of the line, then it goes out exactly how you’d imagine it would: filled with harmless yet comforting fluff that general audiences, especially those who have stuck with the series since the very beginning, can easily enjoy.
It’s now the early 1930s, and once again there’s multiple plots involving various members of the Crawley family and their ever-loyal staff of servants and cooks. The main one sees Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), the eldest daughter of Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern), in prime position to finally take the reins of the family estate, until news of her divorce damages her and the Crawley’s reputation among high society. Then, there’s the arrival of Cora’s brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) and his mysterious advisor Gus Sambrook (Alessandro Nivola) after the former has landed into heavy financial troubles amidst the 1929 Wall Street Crash. We also witness members of the Downton staff, including former butler Carson (Jim Carter) and assistant cook Daisy (Sophie McShera), attempting to make the upcoming county fair an enjoyable occasion for all, much to the huff and puff of Simon Russell Beale’s stuffy committee leader. And as if that wasn’t enough, legendary playwright Noël Coward (Arty Froushan) is popping by for dinner, much to the excitement of all but especially footman-turned-screenwriter Joseph Molesley (Kevin Doyle).
It’s certainly grand in the number of plots and characters that it has (including any that I’m likely forgetting to mention), though as a finale it’s more or less what you’ve come to expect. Like the previous Downton Abbey films, The Grand Finale feels like a severely extended episode of the series, going from one scene to the next as though they’ve been structured for broadcast television rather than cinemas. In terms of narrative, there’s not much conflict to speak of, and what little there is either gets resolved quickly or turns out to have not been much of a worry after all, leading to pretty much everything and everyone getting a reasonably happy ending. The characters are certainly charming and likeable, though the film struggles to give every single member of its large ensemble cast a moment to shine, to where you’ll often forget about certain strands and arcs until it suddenly cuts back to them. And of course, it’s very pretty to look at, with the sets and costumes all beaming with colour and old-fashioned personality, but even they are no more impressive than what we’ve seen before, either on the show or on the big screen.
None of that probably matters, though, for such things seem to be what most people already enjoy about Downton Abbey, so why mess with a perfectly good formula? After all, Fellowes and director Simon Curtis (returning from the previous film A New Era) trust their audience to know full well what universe they’re in and who these characters are by this point, and make next to no attempt to catch any newcomers up – because if your introduction to Downton Abbey is the very end, then what are you even doing here? – before plunging them right back into the thick of it. Fellowes, in particular, recognises how this is all such a fairy tale vision of a bygone era, which I believed I referred to as “comfort caviar” in my review for A New Era, and intentionally indulges in the fantasy of it all for the benefit of audiences who just want to lose themselves in this world, where its fictional characters inadvertently end up inspiring one of Noël Coward’s most famous plays, among numerous other things.
It goes without saying, therefore, that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is best reserved for those who already know this franchise inside and out as much as its creator does. But even if you’re much less familiar, it’s pleasant enough to watch and it has its heart in the right place, especially when paying tribute to the late Maggie Smith whose role in the series was legendary, to say the least. It’s all just a big dollop of comfort caviar, escapist folly that unarguably romanticises early 20th century culture and class structures – but again, that’s the appeal of Downton Abbey in a nutshell.
So, in a lot of ways, the franchise couldn’t have gone out on a more perfect note (if, once again, this is indeed the end).
SO, TO SUM UP…
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale concludes Julian Fellowes’s long-running franchise on an appropriately twee yet charming note that appeals best to fans rather than any newcomers who may feel lost amidst its many subplots and characters.
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