Downton Abbey has had a powerful run, first with the six-season TV present and now a film trilogy, as the ultimate installment, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, prepares to hit the 2025 film calendar. The trailer guarantees loads of emotion and shocking moments as followers bid farewell to the Crawley household and their workers. Critics have seen the newest providing, they usually agree followers will likely be happy.
Within the continuation of the historic drama, the Crawleys are grappling with the specter of social shame amid Mary and Henry’s divorce and the household’s monetary woes. Hugh Scott says in CinemaBlend’s overview of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale that creator Julian Fellowes has managed to convey a lightweight and cheerful tone whereas not dropping the realism of the powerful circumstances, in the end offering a satisfying conclusion for many of the characters. Scott charges the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing:
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is what followers need and count on from the franchise. It’s predictably nice and has a beautiful potential to attract you in from the second it begins. The film isn’t going to problem audiences, however that’s not the objective. There’s sufficient rigidity to maneuver issues ahead, however not a lot that you just ever really feel uncomfortable. The settings are, as all the time, resplendent, giving movie-goers the attention sweet we count on, and letting us in, as soon as once more, on existence, each upstairs and downstairs, that almost all of us are utterly unfamiliar with.
Jocelyn Noveck of the AP offers the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, noting that it will be tough for newcomers to know all the characters and their tales, however followers will likely be happy with this conclusion. Noveck additionally says The Grand Finale is a tribute to the late Maggie Smith in additional methods than one. The critic writes:
‘Generally I really feel that the previous is a extra snug place than the long run,’ somebody says in a poignant second. However this last film will give loyal Downton followers what they need: a satisfying little bit of closure and the sense that the long run, although a bit scary, might look kindly on Downton Abbey so long as Mary is in cost. And so long as Smith’s Violet, imposing in a front-hall portrait, is trying down from above.
Matt Goldberg of The Wrap calls The Grand Finale a “completely nice” sendoff that, of the three motion pictures, feels probably the most in step with the TV sequence. The ultimate film honors the concept that Downton Abbey is in the end a few altering world and the individuals who should study to alter with it. Goldberg continues:
The film works off the right assumption that should you’ve caught by six seasons of a TV sequence and two motion pictures, you’re on board for a narrative within the ‘traditional’ mould with a pleasant send-off, and that’s precisely what you get. It’s virtually a redux of the sequence finale however with higher manufacturing values and understanding that maybe as a substitute of totally dwelling up to now, it’s good to think about a snug future for the characters.
James Dyer of Empire charges it 3 stars out of 5, saying that the query of whether or not or not Downton Abbey can exist with out Maggie Smith — who died in 2024 — is answered with a shocking sure. The finale does Cousin Violet proud, Dyer says, writing:
In the event you’ve come this far with the Crawley clan, then The Grand Finale is, in all probability, precisely what you got here for. Cloying in locations and unapologetically sentimental, it’s a comfortable au revoir (sure, one other one) to the solid of bumbling toffs and their dutiful attendants who we’ve come to like over the previous 15 years.
Tomris Laffly of Selection says it’s a “heart-swelling conclusion,” as Julian Fellowes continues to proudly push these acquainted characters out of their consolation zones whereas nonetheless wrapping the movie in nostalgia. The critic continues:
With the elegant and sharply humorous last version, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, he proves but once more that he is aware of precisely tips on how to harness the weather that made the present so steadily fascinating, past its attractive costumes and detailed manufacturing design: a dedication to constant character work throughout the period’s social class strains, in addition to a handsomely sober portrayal of the previous with a gentle gaze towards the long run.
Critics largely agree that followers who’ve caught with the Crawleys since 2010 — by the sequence, Christmas specials and two different motion pictures — received’t be upset with this final chapter. To that time, the film stands at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 98% on followers’ Popcornmeter.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale hits theaters on Friday, September 12, and should you’d prefer to relive any of the household’s earlier antics, each the TV present and first two motion pictures might be streamed with a Peacock subscription.