Downton Abbey
2019
**½
Director: Michael Engler
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Penelope Wilton, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Matthew Goode, Harry Hadden-Paton, Rob James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Stephen Campbell Moore
Downton Abbey depicted the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in early 20th-century England. The television series, which ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2015, was initially enjoyable but definitely outstayed its welcome. In 1927, it is announced that King George V and Queen Mary are coming to Downton Abbey for a visit. The visit creates both excitement and tension, particularly when the royal household arrives with its own staff. The first of the spin-off films really has no reason to exist. With such a large cast of characters, many of whom just stand around doing nothing significant, the film probably makes very little sense to the uninitiated. The screenplay by Julian Fellowes delivers the usual collection of romantic developments, family disagreements, and conflicts between tradition and modernity, but in the end it's just a whole lot of nothing. Followed by Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025).
