Over the past 15 years, Downton Abbey has gotten very good at saying goodbye. The sweeping British period series wrapped up its six-season run with a sweet Christmas special farewell. The 2019 big screen continuation tied up the few remaining loose ends. And the 2022 sequel put an even more emotional button on things with the onscreen death of Maggie Smith’s iconic Dowager Countess.
Now Downton is promising to truly say farewell for good this time with its third and final film, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, in theaters Sept. 12. Whether or not it sticks remains to be seen. There’s nothing in the movie that precludes them from making another one someday. (Spoiler alert: They don’t end it by blowing up the house or anything.) But if this really is goodbye, it’s a fittingly character-centric one.
In fact, there’s nothing all that grand about this grand finale—and that’s the best thing about it. The previous two films felt the need to at least vaguely try to appeal to new audiences with big event showpieces that were slightly more madcap than the show ever was. (The King and Queen are coming! Everyone’s going to the South of France! They’re filming a movie at Downton!) But this time around, writer/creator Julian Fellowes just plays to his base with a back-to-basics return to the more low-key vibe of the series.
The new players are minimized and the stakes are much closer to what they were on the show—county fair planning meetings, a ballroom social faux pas, and the occasional bit of money drama. So while Grand Finale will probably be inscrutable for those who can’t tell their Lord Hexhams from their Lady Mertons, longtime fans will be rewarded by how seriously the film takes the emotional continuity of its sprawling cast of characters.
Returning director Simon Curtis opens with a tracking shot through the glitzy streets of Piccadilly Circus. It’s 1930—almost two decades since this aristocratic story began with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and his wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) are in town for the London season, where Noël Coward (Arty Froushan) is all the rage. But scandal is on the horizon. The hints of martial trouble we glimpsed in the last film have manifested into a full-on divorce for Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery). And in an era where that makes her a social pariah in high society, her role as the future steward of Downton Abbey suddenly seems a whole lot less certain.
It doesn’t help that Cora’s brother Harold Levinson (Paul Giamatti, reprising his role from the 2013 Christmas special) travels over from America to admit he accidentally squandered their recently deceased mother’s inheritance—leaving the Crawleys strapped for cash. Back at the house, meanwhile, head butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) is preparing for his umpteenth retirement, while cook Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) is planning to hand over the reins to her long-time apprentice Daisy (Sophie McShera). Plus, feisty cousin Isobel (Penelope Wilton) has tasked herself with bringing a more egalitarian perspective as the new president of the annual county fair.
It all feels like an extended episode of the show—right down to Fellowes’ love of using stories about social change to reinforce his fundamentally conservative point of view. Downton Abbey’s “We’re one big happy family!” vibe has always propagandized the idea that upstairs/downstairs class stratifications were good, actually, so long as the rich people were nice. But, presumably, anyone who can’t stomach Fellowes’ fawning celebration of British elites has long since left the series behind. The rest of us can enjoy the truly stunning ’30s costuming from Anna Robbins, who creates some of the best looks Mary and her sister Edith (Laura Carmichael) have worn in the entire series.
If Grand Finale has a central hook, it’s about the passage of time and the meaning it gives to our lives—a feeling that’s true for both the characters and their loyal viewers. After a decade and a half of Mary and Edith squabbles, it’s incredibly moving to watch Edith step into her power as a protective sister. Ditto moments that acknowledge the long-time friendships between Carson and Lord Grantham or Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) or Mary and her lady’s maid Anna (Joanne Froggatt). Hell, even good old farmer Mr. Mason (Paul Copley) gets a moment to shine!
While some players get more screentime than others (Robert James-Collier’s Thomas Barrow and Allen Leech’s Tom Branson are downplayed after getting bigger roles in the last two movies), Fellowes and his actors know these characters inside and out in a way that makes even the smallest of interactions feel rich with meaning and depth. And a witty script filled with callbacks to the original series (shout out Mr. Pamuk!) has no shortage of tearjerking moments for devoted fans to appreciate.
Still, it’s Lady Mary who really rises to the top here. More than anyone, she’s always been the true heart and soul of Downton Abbey. And if The Grand Finale has a reason to exist, it’s to give her an arc that’s more bittersweet but also more satisfying than the simple “happily ever after” she got in the original series finale. A lovely final montage acknowledges the long, winding path Mary has taken to finally become the rightful heir to her family’s legacy.
The Grand Finale suggests that even when times get tough, the Crawleys and their impossibly loyal servants can weather any storm together. Better yet, it leaves viewers with the feeling that these characters will continue to live on for generations to come, even if we no longer have the privilege of peeking into their opulent lives.
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