For starters, the passing of Lady Violet Crawley at the end of the preceding film was always likely to remove one of creator Julian Fellowes’ greatest weapons, her withering put downs no more. Of course, her painting still hangs in the grand hallway of Downton, and this film finishes with a touching dedication to the legendary actress who played her, Dame Maggie Smith, following her death last year.
Times are a changing, with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and her divorce causing scandal in polite society. “Families like ours must keep moving to survive,” she says. Meanwhile, Lady and Lord Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville) give thought to selling the glorious Downton estate. “We’ve done our duty,” surmises Lord Grantham. “I’ve given half my life to Downton.” You imagine Fellowes probably feels the same.
Thankfully, the film holds back on the gushing sentimentality, instead introducing some fun new characters, including Alessandro Nivola’s suave American, Gus Sambrook, an acquaintance of Lady Grantham’s brother, Harold (Paul Giamatti), and the ultra-pompous local Sir Hector Moreland (theatre maestro Simon Russell Beale, having a ball here).
While Lady Violet is left to merely glower from her artfully framed painting, there’s still some neat humour to be had, including a priceless scene where Lord Grantham visits a potential new residence, a flat seemingly around the corner from the Royal Albert Hall, and is shocked to discover there will be others living above and below him.
Director Simon Curtis, familiar with it all after helming 2022’s more sun-kissed Downton Abbey: A New Era, doesn’t spare the horses when it comes the requisite glamour, from the opening trip to London, where even Piccadilly Circus looks romantic, to the obligatory swooping shots of Downton and a sequence at Ascot as the gang head to the races for The Gold Cup.
Costumes by Anna Robbins, from the gowns to the tuxes to the glittering jewellery all look glorious too, immediately transporting you back to the period.
Arguably, Fellowes’ script is not out of the top-drawer, but then again, it’s nigh-on impossible to bring a beloved franchise like Downton to a truly satisfying close.
It would be unfair to claim this closing film concludes on a whimper. But neither is it quite the grand finale the title would have us believe. More like a pleasant stroll with characters you know and love.
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