Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts:

1. It’s terrific fun.
2. I love that Edith is the cool sister now.
3. Writers are the best.
4. If this really is the final Downton Abbey movie, I’m cool with it. Writer Julian Fellowes does a fine job of wrapping up the narrative.
5. Isobel Grey is a legend.

After 52 episodes (including the Christmas specials), and three movies, the Downton Abbey franchise has firmly established itself as one of the premier comfort food watches of all time (in my opinion). There’s something comforting about watching rich people and their staff deal with a plethora of controversies and trials that only bother incredibly rich families. Since 2011, writer Julian Fellowes has created a fully fleshed-out world with a lot of ups and downs. It’s a perfectly imperfect world, and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale does a fine job of wrapping up about 3,000 storylines. 

Since there’s dozens of characters in the Downton Abbey world, here are some of the plotlines in list form. 

1. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery = great) is dealing with the aftermath of her scandalous divorce with race car driver Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode, who doesn’t make an appearance). She’s still super sassy and looks great in costumes designed by costume designer Anna Mary Scott Robbins.
2. Lady Edith is super cool and is happily married to the wildly rich Herbert “Bertie” Pelham (Harry Hadden-Paton). It’s neat watching Edith own things and become the cool sister.
3. Beryl Patmore is about to retire and hand over lead cooking duties to Daisy Parker (Sophie McShera). She’s also getting ready to settle down with Mr. Mason (Paul Copley), which is a bit scary for her (and leads to the best joke in the movie). 
4. John Bates (Brendan Coyle) and Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt) are happily married and expecting a second child. Legends. 
5. Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier) is the secret lover of actor Guy Bexter (Dominic West), and he’s working with famous playwright Arty Froushan Noël Coward (Arty Froushan). He’s doing great.
6. Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern) are dealing with Mary’s divorce AND the fact that Cora’s brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) made some terrible investments and lost most of Cora’s fortune.
7. Tom Brandon (Allen Leech) is flush with cash after selling his car business. Dude is crushing it. 
8. Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) is recently retired, and he’s having a hard time handing over head butler duties to Andy Parker (Michael Fox). It’s cool, though, because he’s married to the ultra-awesome Elsie Hughes (Phyllis Logan).
9. Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle) is a successful screenwriter, and he’s happily married to Phyllis Baxter (Raquel Cassidy). The good news is that Mr. Molesley is still a maniac. 
10. Isobel Grey is still a legend. She spends her days living large with husband Richard “Dickie” Grey (Douglas Reith). In perhaps the best storyline in the film, she has to help plan the yearly Abbey fair,  which puts her in the crosshairs of a surly guy named Sir Hector Moreland (Simon Russell Beale). 

The biggest problem with the latest Downton Abbey movie is that you need to be familiar with the world to understand everything that is going on. Walking into this film blind would feel similar to walking into Avengers: Endgame with no prior knowledge of the storyline. The film also traverses more ground than usual as the Crawleys start off the film in London, head back to Downton, go back to London, and finish the film in the Abbey. It’s a lot, and it’s great (if you know what’s going on). On top of the regular characters, Fellows has written roles for Alesandro Nivola (as a mysterious American), and Joely Richardson (a wealthy relative of Bertie), who provide some welcome drama that was missing from Downton Abbey: A New Era. It’s not a tight film like Downton Abbey (2019), but it doesn’t have to be because it needs to close out storylines and please audiences who have been watching the franchise since 2011. The landing isn’t perfect (the film takes a while to get going), but it gives audiences what they want. Here is another list.

1. Lady Mary gets into some shenanigans. 
2. Mr. Crawley gets all huffy while Mrs. Crawley remains cool under pressure.
3. Mr Carson behaves like Mr. Carson.
4. Arguments are had in fancy rooms.
5. Anna and John Bates prove themselves to be the greatest employees ever.
6. Isobel Grey drops some sassy quips.
7. Edith, Daisy, Thomas, and Andy get happy endings.
8. Steadicams are used.
9. The words “mama” and “papa” are said many times.
10. Money becomes an issue. 

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is a fantastic ending to a beloved franchise, and I’m hoping it pulls in a lot of money so we get a fourth film entitled Downton Abbey: Encore.