'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale' Movie Review: A Fitting, Bittersweet End To An Era

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opens with the Crawleys in London at an opera titled Bitter Sweet. Fitting — because that’s exactly what this final chapter is. For those unfamiliar with the series it is based on (Downton Abbey, 2010) The Grand Finale is essentially its Avengers: Endgame (2019).

15 years, six seasons and three films later, they're here to bid goodbye.

The very first episode of the original series introduced the tension of losing both legacy and home — and so does this final film. Sir Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) remains hesitant to relinquish his role as master of the estate, and once again, Downton faces financial peril. They keep speaking of "going home" — but while the house is the same, everything else has changed.

A still from 'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale'.Universal Pictures India

It’s 1930. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) is now divorced. She’s thrown out of a party and sleeps with a man she just met. Carson (Jim Carter) and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) have retired, Daisy (Sophie McShera) steps up as head cook and now serves on the county fair’s organising board. Anna (Joanne Froggatt) is expecting her second child, Cora’s (Elizabeth McGovern) fortune has been squandered by her brother, and Molesley (Kevin Doyle) is now a successful screenwriter.

Thomas Barrow's (Rob James-Collier) is perhaps the most surprising evolution— happy at last, in a stable relationship with actor Guy Dexter (Dominic West) whom he met in the previous film. Their quiet, tender scenes show us a character finally freed from bitterness, in what feels like a long-overdue resolution.

And then there’s Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael). Now a Marchioness, she truly comes into her own. Once the overshadowed, insecure younger sister, she now commands strength and clarity. In one of the film’s best moments, she confronts a conman (Gus Sambrook, played by Alessandro Nivola) attempting to defraud her family — not only protecting her house, but defending Mary in the process. The sisters, long adversaries, now stand united and their relationship is perhaps the most heartwarming dynamic the franchise has offered.

But the most poignant difference is the absence of Lady Violet Crawley — the great matriarch, played by the late Maggie Smith. The opening shot of Downton Abbey now shows her portrait hanging above the mantel, watching over them all. Yet it is a quiet goodbye scene between Robert and her empty chair that has one reaching for tissues. It's restrained, but a punch to the gut nonetheless.

Mary is, once again, named heir — but this time, the title carries weight. Her first decision as Mistress of Downton Abbey? To sell it.

Just as the Petersfield estate was on the market at the start of the film, so too must the Crawleys make peace with downsizing. But no one could have anticipated the next scene: the family buying a flat — of course not before Robert grumbles about it being “a layer cake of strangers.”

A still from 'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale'.Universal Pictures India

But two things about the Downton Abbey franchise (and this film in particular) never disappoint. First, the styling. Costume designer Anna Mary Scott Robbins delivers period fashion through a 21st century lens. The gowns worn by Mary are modern and breathtaking, while the men’s suits are impeccably tailored.

Second comes the music. Beyond the operatic start, music plays a key emotional role: Carson plays a rendition of “I’m Old Fashioned” on the radio while Noel Coward (Arty Froushan) delivers a show-stopping “Poor Little Rich Girl,” locking eyes with Mary as he sings.

Julian Fellowes, who has written every script for this franchise since the beginning, crafts an ending that’s both sentimental and shrewd. In a seemingly casual exchange, Coward mentions a project he’s working on — about the Titanic and the war. It prompts Robert to recall the family members lost aboard the ship. This was the original plot point of the pilot episode. In one brief moment, everything comes full circle, wrapped up neatly in a bow.

And then come the goodbyes.

A ten-minute montage shows each character bidding farewell — to each other, to Downton, to their devoted audience. Finally, Mary stands alone in the house she is soon to leave behind. She looks around. Memories flood in: of Matthew (Dan Stevens), of her grandmother, of the servants, the balls, the triumphs, and heartbreaks. All of it.

This was never about a house, rather about the ones that turned it into a home. The Grand Finale is exactly what it promises to be — the end of an era, and the beginning of another. Bittersweet, yes. But entirely earned.