Downton Abbey: A New Era

Downton Abbey: A New Era

The Crawley family goes on a grand journey to the south of France to uncover the mystery of the dowager countess's newly inherited villa.

  • Released: 2022-04-27
  • Runtime: 125 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History, Romance
  • Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Robert James-Collier, Lesley Nicol, Allen Leech, Laura Carmichael, Phyllis Logan, Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Joanne Froggatt, Jim Carter, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye, Penelope Wilton, Fifi Hart, Jonathan Coy, Samantha Bond, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Imelda Staunton, Harry Hadden-Paton, Rodrigo Saavedra, Matthew Goode, Tuppence Middleton, Douglas Reith, Oliver Barker, Zac Barker, Eva Samms, Megan Barker, Joanne Frogatt, Sophie McShera, Jeremy Swift, Sue Johnston, Jonathan Zaccaï, Charlie Watson, Archer Robbins, Eva Samms, Karina Samms, Alex McQueen, Paul Copley, Alex MacQueen, David Robb
  • Director: Simon Curtis
 Comments
  • cvttqnck - 26 December 2023
    Was this written by ChatGPT?
    The original series, while not perfect, had authentic writing, compelling plots, and fully developed characters. This sorry excuse for a movie, on the other hand, feels like the response to a ChatGPT prompt to write a script for a Downtown Abbey movie. Everything about it is dull, flat, predictable, perfunctory, silly, and utterly cliche. Movies are both works of art and commercial enterprises. The best ones make their commercial success on the merits of their art; the worst ones simply capitalize on already-beloved titles and characters to make a quick buck. This one certainly feels like the latter. The extent to which any reviewer gives this film more than two or three stars must be based entirely on a nostalgia for the characters developed over the course of the original television series, as the familiar names and faces are quite literally the only redeeming factors in this otherwise completely uninspired movie. As a fan of the original series, I'm left feeling duped. It's not uncommon for popular children's shows to make a quick buck by offering spin offs or "live" versions that lack any semblance of the beloved original save the name and branding; this same strategy, unfortunately, seems to have been used here.

    In short, if you're looking for a Downton Abbey fix, save yourself time and money, skip this dud, and just do a google search for a five minute Downton highlight reel. It's likely to have more artistic merit anyway.
  • thalassafischer - 24 April 2023
    A Little on the Fence About This
    I watched the entire Downton Abbey series and the first film and I just don't see why people are giving this such high praise. It lacks the darkness and complexity of the original tv drama, it's sort of like a cross between an Agatha Christie mystery and a Disney movie to be quite frank.

    All of us came back for the characters but honestly a person must be obsessed with the show to give this film a 10. It's entertaining and pleasant, has a few sad moments, but beyond the death of the matriarch (which we all knew was long coming) the entire script was pretty trite. The mystery bit was silly and the Hollywood scenes were fun.

    I think "I hope you will be as happy as our cruel world allows" was by far the most meaningful line, and the most meaningful scene that in which the maids tell the actress "you're one of us!"