My Review of Downton Abbey (2019)

Written by Julian Fellowes

Directed by Michael Engler

Henry Talbot: "Leave Downton? We're stuck with it, aren't we?"

Lady Mary Talbot: "Yes. Yes, I believe we are."

I was a fan of Downton Abbey in the day. I caught up with the first series in time for the second and watched the remaining series until it's end on Christmas Day 2015. However, it's really taken me this long to catch up with the movies.

Four years after the show ended, it was time to go back to Downton and for two hours, there were a lot of plots to get through with this film. Some are resolved better than others but all of them at least managed to hold my general interest regardless.

First of all, there's a Royal visit that had the downstairs staff in quite a tizz. Notably because it was only King George V (Simon George) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James), along with Princess Mary (Kate Phillips) and the latter's much older and cantankerous husband, Henry, Viscount Lascelles (Andrew Havill). Their arrival caused quite the fuss.

Let's see, we had poor Thomas (Robert James Collier) demoted from butler so that Carson (Jim Carter) could come out of retirement. Carson butted heads with Mr Wilson (David Haig) while Mrs Carson (Phyllis Logan) also clashed with Mrs Webb (Richenda Carey). Add a snooty chef in the form of Monsieur Courbet (Phillippe Spall) to get Mrs Patmore's (Lesley Nicol) back up and Anna (Joanne Froggatt) going up against the thieving Miss Lawton (Susan Lynch) and it's proof that even the staff will clash over the least thing.

Moving away from the staff for a bit, who would've thought that Branson (Allen Leech) would've scuppered a would be assassination attempt from Irish sympathiser, Major Chetwode (Stephen Campbell Moore)? I didn't predict it. However, the romance between between Branson and the rather sweet Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton) was as telegraphed as possible. It's like they found Brandon's perfect woman in this movie after a string of post Sybil misfires in later series of the main show.

Lucy came under a lot of fire in this movie for being the ladies maid of Maud Elliot, Dowager Baroness Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton). Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) wanted a possible inheritance to go to Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and was pushing the point too much that even Isobel Grey (Penelope Wilton) had to step in. Of course the real reason behind Maud's devotion towards Lucy also made a lot of sense before it was made clear.

What of everyone else in this movie? Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) spent most of it away from her husband, Henry (Matthew Goode) while trying to organise the big event. She was also the one whom Violet confided her health issues to. Edith Pelham, Marchioness of Hexham (Laura Carmichael) was expecting a baby and didn't want Bertie (Harry Hadden-Paton) away for the birth. She ended up getting her wish. Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) arguably had very little really do compared to the rest of her family or even some of the staff.

- Even I was a little exasperated with Molesley (Kevin Doyle) being too much of a Royal fanboy. Fortunately, Daisy (Sophie McShera) provided a good contrast to that.

- Thomas got to see an underground gay nightclub, got arrested and then bailed by Royal footman, Richard Ellis (Max Brown). There was a spark with them.

- Other characters that appeared were Mr Bates (Brendan Coyle), Miss Baxter (Raquel Cassidy), Andy (Michael C. Fox), Albert (Charlie Watson), Mr Bakewell (Mark Addy), Tony Sellick (James Cartwright), Lord Merton (Douglas Reith) as well as the children. There's a few missing recurring characters but also so many characters to keep up with.

- I continue to love the snarky relationship that Violet and Isobel have with each other. Mary's daughter is named Caroline.
- Standout music: Traditional arrangements of On Ilkla Moor Baht 'At, God Save The King as well as I've Danced With A Man.

- Chronology: It's 1927 at Downton Abbey. Over a year since the series finale. Henry was in Chicago for the majority of the movie.

It had a lot going on with it and while some plots might have felt a little too easy in how they were resolved, I love this movie. Downton Abbey (2019) could've felt like a desperate cash in but it managed to avoid that general pitfall. It was nice catching up with these characters again. Now onto the sequels.

Rating: 9 out of 10