Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2022 historical drama film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, starring Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith.

A few years after Downton Abbey received a royal visit, the house is shaken once again. A silent film producer has requested to film at the Abbey, and the sickly matriarch Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith), reveals that she has inherited a villa in Southern France. Due to a leaky roof, Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) takes up producer Jack Barber’s (Hugh Dancy) offer, while the old guard led by Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), travel to France for answers.

The movie is the sequel to the 2019 effort, itself extending the TV adventures (2010-15) of the Crawley family and their staff in Downton Abbey. In this latest chapter, the plot is slightly meta, taking aim at a film production using the Abbey as a location, much like the series did of Highclere Castle. A new era is upon the Abbey and the world, symbolised by the arrival of the ‘garish’ film production. While the more progressive members of the Crawley family assist the production with their enthusiastic and starry-eyed staff, the senior members delve into the past to discover why Violet Crawley was bequeathed the villa to the chagrin of the deceased owner’s widow.

While it may seem that a lot is going on, the stakes are still set deliciously low.

Verdict: A beautiful and charming production that celebrates its legacy characters while heralding a brighter future. 4 stars.

Viewed at Palace Cinemas.

Luke McWilliams | themovieclub.net

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