In the summer of 1930, the Crawleys grapple with the threat of social disgrace when Mary finds herself at the centre of a public scandal and the family faces financial trouble.

Review

Josh (Guest) – Who doesn’t like some saccharine sweet melodrama? Downton Abbey The Grand Finale doesn’t offer anything new, but it’s a well-made film with great characters, costumes, set design and enough haughty dialogue to make it a thoroughly enjoyable and comforting time. 

I don’t know where I fell off the Downton Abbey train, it was sometime a decade ago. Regardless, as long as one knows the basic family of characters and their relationships, the missing patches of the family history don’t stand in the way of enjoying The Grand Finale. The film follows the Crawley family and their servants (the upstairs and downstairs characters) as Mary begins to take the reins from her father, the Earl of Grantham. She’s mired in a real early-20th century scandal – divorce – that stands against the gentry’s sensibilities and sets up some social challenges for the family to navigate. As the drama unfolds, each character shows interesting development from the show’s early seasons, all maturing and taking on their later age roles – particularly Edith, who moves from being the whimpering middle child to a more assertive and capable character. 

The film gives an interesting perspective on how the aristocracy must adapt to a rapidly changing society after the First World War and the Great Depression that followed; with broader social points being touched on just enough to add greater context and understanding of the maneuvering required for the Crawley family to stay afloat.

Although, none of this matters too much because you have Elizabeth McGovern’s (Cora) exasperated gazes and Michelle Dockery’s (Mary) clipped and supercilious accent, all while looking super chic, to keep you engrossed and wanting more. Overall, the film is a great rounding off of Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey franchise, and is made complete with a touching dedication to the great Dame Maggie Smith. 7.5/10

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