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Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)

I have never seen the TV series although I thought I should give the films a go. The first one is not very good as it's just the King coming for dinner and everyone getting flustered. The second one is the best one as its a mystery about how Violet (Maggie Smith) got given a fancy house in France. The highlight being when Robert breaks down in tears and I don't know whether its because he might be illegitimate or French. This one deals with change and pretty much every aspect of the film is about that in one way or another. 

One of the things that has worked in the film’s favour is that it doesn't lean on the assumption that you have watched every episode of the TV show before watching any of these. I think it would help as there have been references that didn’t mean anything to me but to people who are fans of the show it would remind them of a particular episode.  

One plot strand comes from the fallout from Mary’s divorce. It’s weird to think that there was a time when divorce made you a social pariah. Someone doesn't want her to present an award because she is divorced. How times have changed. I did laugh when a line was used about the house being full of yanks but Mary is the controversial one. Another plot strand is that Harold (Paul Giamatti) is trying to get money as suggested by Gus (Alessandro Nivola) but it is then revealed that Gus is a con-artist or confidence trickster as they refer to him as. 

The performances are all really good. Michelle Dockery managed to achieve something that none of the other cast managed and that is to make me feel sorry for one of these characters. Mary is suffering just because she is a divorcee and manages to come across as a smart person who doesn't like what is happening but accepts that this is the way the world works. She is the one at the very end standing tall having become the mistress of downtown. It is impossible, I think to dislike Hugh Bonneville. He spends the entirety of this film stomping around acting like a spoiled child with his unwillingness to accept that things have to change. Paul Giamatti is fun to watch in this and even though he has a secret that could ruin the family, he still manages to come across as a likeable person and I think that is more to do with Giamatti himself.

The thing about these films is that it's very hard to empathise with them. They are people who are staggeringly wealthy for so long and the film (and TV series) asks us to connect with them. Ok their finances are not what they were but whenever they do a  wide shot of the house they live in then I find it hard to feel sorry for them. 

Despite not being emotionally connected with these characters, I wasn't bored by this film. At two hours it is basically a two parter of the tv show which is a main issue with all these films but the plot, the cinematography (Ben Smithard) and the score (John Lunn) help me enjoy this film far more than I was expecting. I don't think that this film is quite as good as the second film but there is still plenty to like although my mom went to see this film as was slightly disappointed with it but i think that it ends in a way that they could pick this up again with time having moved on but if this is the grand finale then they have ended on a satisfying note.

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