It’s time to check in with the Crawley family for one last time in the third and final Downton film outing.
After six seasons on TV and two movies, the Downton Abbey story has finally come to an end with the aptly-titled third film, The Grand Finale.
The third chapter, once again written by series creator Julian Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis, follows the Crawley family as they enter the 1930s.
They aren’t in great shape. Firstly, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) has been cast out of society because she’s now a divorcee, and her father, Robert (Hugh Bonneville), becomes reluctant to hand control of the Downton estate over to her, as he promised.
Secondly, Harold Levinson (Paul Giamatti), the brother of Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern), arrives from America with his business associate Gus Sambrook (Alessandro Nivola) and some troubling financial news.
The previous two film outings – 2019’s Downton Abbey and 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era – felt like movies because they revolved around a cinematic event, such as a royal visit and a film production. With The Grand Finale, there are only small-scale events such as a trip to Ascot, a county show and a visit from playwright Noel Coward (Arty Froushan), so it feels more like a long TV episode.
This is most likely because Fellowes knew this was the concluding chapter and wanted to give almost every character in this huge cast a moment to shine one more time and wrap all the threads up nicely.
So while it feels like more of a TV special than a movie, Downton fans probably won’t care because they’re more interested in reuniting with the characters and seeing how their storylines conclude – and it doesn’t disappoint on that front.
The standouts among the gigantic cast include Dockery, who is the heart and soul of the story, Bonneville, who has a lot to do as he considers the succession plan, and Sophie McShera, who delights as cook Daisy, who is gearing up to take charge of the kitchen.
With a title like The Grand Finale, Fellowes and Curtis made a promise to viewers about what they could expect. While this instalment doesn’t feel as grand as the previous two films, Fellowes sticks the landing beautifully and delivers a satisfying – and surprisingly moving – finale that fans deserve.
In cinemas from Friday 12th September.
By Hannah Wales.
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