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
  • mcgx6 - 11 February 2024
    Sorta Deja vu
    Love Downton Abby. All episodes are finely written and acted. The first movie was just as good. There are always some areas that doesn't resonate but overall they are superb. Then came "A New Era". Still love the characters, they all are still fine actors. The plot line of the "French Villa" is somewhat contrived and to put Lord Grantham through all the agony of his mothers imminent death, losing his "name" and then Cora's illness was just too much. AND to top it all there is the shooting of a movie at Downton Abby, and the obvious "rip off" or similarity to a very popular movie about some singin and dancing while precipitation is falling. But all in all it is still Downton and it is still very good!!
  • katcherj - 10 June 2023
    Really! Enough is enough!
    I enjoyed the TV series very much, and had very few criticisms of the show (with the glaring exception that Mr. Bates apparently has the ability to wish people dead - he wished his estranged wife would die, and on the very day that he goes to have it out with her, she immediately takes rat poison to commit suicide; and then he wishes his new wife's rapist was dead, and on the very day that he plans to go and murder the man, the man is murdered by another heretofore unknown character - that was all a bit too much for me to suspend my disbelief). It was a rather simple show that telegraphed it's plot points, but then fulfilled the promise rather than pull a switch to be too clever. If a man and a woman had a conversation together, whether friendly or heated, you could expect that they would eventually be married to one another. If anyone got too happy, then some tragedy was sure to strike them low (poor Edith had a raincloud perpetually poised over her head). Yet in the end, just as Lord Grantham would predict, things would all work out. Happy endings all around for everyone. The TV series did a wonderful job of resolving everyone's issues and leaving everyone with a happy ending. One of the better television finales.

    Therefore, the subsequent movies were superfluous. They were actually just lengthy episodes of the TV show. Neither was a stand-alone movie. If you were unfamiliar with the series, the movies would be incomprehensible, because so much is dependent on upon the character development that occurred prior to the movie during the television series. Since I had just recently watched the entire series, I was anxious to take a peek at what had become of these characters that I had spent so much time with. And I discovered: nothing had changed. There was absolutely nothing to catch up on. When you meet up with an old friend, you spend some time sharing with one another what has been going on during the interval. However, in the world of Downton Abbey, you just pick up as though no time has passed at all and carry on with a new adventure.

    The new adventure for this episode (I mean, movie) is that Violet has "suddenly" (as in sixty years ago) come into possession of a grand villa in the French Riviera. She gives a vague explanation for how it came to her, but it only serves as the starting point for the intrigue that follows. This is the main plot point of the movie, and there are far fewer sub-plots in this movie than in the first one, which I applaud and was one of the reasons I gave this movie a rating of 7 and only gave the first movie a rating of 6.

    Some of the family and staff go on this grand adventure to France. However, as to who goes and who stays behind is a mystery that not even the characters can solve. I loved Robert's line upon meeting his host and explaining that they have brought their own butler, "but for the life of me, I don't know why". Carson is not even their actual employee anymore, yet they can press him into service upon any whim. It wasn't even his beloved Mary that prompted his return to buttling, because Mary stayed behind (along with Carson's wife). Further, how many times during the TV show did the issue of traveling without a valet come up? Traveling without a valet seemed to be the mark of an aristocrat that was on hard times. However, does Mr. Bates travel with Lord Grantham? Nope, they bring their retired butler instead. Huh?!

    Then there is the absence of Violet and Sibby from the entourage. Violet is the actual owner of the villa, but having been there once before (sixty years ago), she has seen it's beauty and has no need to re-visit. Her absence could certainly be excused due to her declining health (although there is little mention of that until the final act). Sibby, on the other hand, who is to inherit this grand estate to put her on equal footing with her cousins, is mentioned several times ("I wish Sibby could have been here."), but she was inexplicably left behind. Dad and step-mom (Tom and Lucy) get to have a lush vacation at Sibby's fabulous new villa, but Sibby herself must sit this one out. Humpf!

    The major sub-plot is enduring a film crew that invades Downton Abbey so that the family can score some scratch to fix the leaky roof. That would be an okay plot line, except then they go and do a direct theft of the plot point from "Singin' In The Rain". There must have been some statute of limitations that ran out in 2022 that allowed movies to steal a significant plot point from such a great old film, because "Babylon" (also out in 2022) did the exact same thing: portraying a beautiful silent movie actress as having an irritating voice that must be dubbed for the newly-developed talkies. The blatant rip-off made me deduct points from my rating.

    The very minor sub-plot of Cora's illness was not worth having at all. She is thought to be dying of cancer and then, nope, wrong diagnosis - happy ending. The only thing this sub-plot allowed was a tirade by Robert in which he, at first, appears to be angry with Cora for dying and then they profess their deep love for one another. Eh, could have skipped it.

    The best part of the movie, unfortunately, was the death scene of the Dowager Countess. Played for both laughs and tears. Maggie Smith was excellent in every scene she was ever in during the entirety of the television series and the two subsequent movies. Hopefully, having laid the great lady to rest, they will let the entire cast rest in peace, as well.
  • dbfrasatti - 3 January 2023
    Disappointing
    I've always enjoyed the series, but Disliked the last two movies, especially this newer one. I mean, why didn't they show more of the kids and the music in the background was so loud very overbearing very dramatic, especially in the beginning.

    I really don't understand why they keep changing directors They all seem out of character and Hugh with his weight loss and his different voice, it was just difficult for me to watch.

    I understood the plot it's just that it was difficult for me because all the characters seem to be unlike themselves during the series I felt as if I was watching a Disney Pollyanna film.
  • IonicBreezeMachine - 9 November 2022
    Much like the first Downton movie, A New Era may not have been necessary but it does a solid job in delivering what fans of the series want.
    Set in 1928, following the wedding of Lord Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) son-law Tom Branson (Allen Leech) to Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), film company British Lion sends a request to Downton Abbey asking to produce a film using Downton as the location. While Lord Grantham is not keen on the idea, Lord Grantham's eldest daughter and agent of the estate Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) convinces Robert to approve the idea due to Downton's roof being in dire need of repair. As Downton reluctantly welcomes the film production to the estate with some members of the household staff excited while others repulsed, a discovery comes to light that Lord Grantham's mother, Dowager Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) is the owner of a villa in the south of France that was willed to her by a late acquaintance of hers Marquis de Montmirai which has continued to be used by his surviving wife and son. As the Crawley's, except for Mary, head to the villa at the request of the current Marquis, Robert soon finds reason to question his legacy and lineage.

    Following the release of the first Downton Abbey film in 2019 wherein the $20 million production grossed $200 million worldwide, creator Julian Fellowes sated he and the cast had ideas for further continuation. After Fellowes finished working on The Gilda Age, Fellowes wrote the script in 2020 and following various work arounds for COVD protocols in 2021 the film began production. Released in 2022, the film didn't deliver the same numbers as its predecessor making $90 million against a $40 million budget, it was seen as a success overall due to the nature of the cinema landscape favoring blockbuster tentpoles while adult skewing material such as Downton went to streamers. As a film it's very much in line with the first Downton Movie where it's a chance to revisit the characters and world audiences fell in love with in the TV show.

    As with the previous film, Downton Abbey: A New Era is a very busy film with many things going on in both major plotlines and individual character moments so once again it's pretty much like you're watching an episode of the TV series except on a theatrical budget. The two major plotlines are both very rich with the filming plotline playing as a clever culture clash with elements of Singing in the Rain as we see this silent melodrama filmed at Downton need to be retrofitted into a "talkie" due to the rising popularity of talkies in the wake of The Jazz Singer. The movie production crew colliding with the ordered world of Downton is somewhat similar to the royal staff rolling over the Downton Staff from the previous film, but there's enough differences that it doesn't feel like we're retreading ground. The secondary plotline involving Violet's inheritance of the French villa does stretch disbelief to an extent and does risk going into "soap opera" territory, but the writings strong enough that it avoids that pitfall.

    If you enjoyed the TV series and the previous film, there's enough here to motivate longtime fans to indulge in a viewing. It's a very busy movie but it never feels overstuffed and most of the plot lines and revisits of characters hit instead of miss.
  • eb-77766 - 5 September 2022
    Excellent enjoyment
    I have watched all seasons and the movie of Downton Abbey and have enjoyed it immensely.

    That said, this could possibly be the most enjoyable experience I've had of the show so far.

    Basically all the characters are at their very best but it's also the mood of the story.

    It's very humorous. That's to me a dangerous path if you get it wrong but in Downton Abbey they get it unbelievably right:). I mean, who can't enjoy Mr. Carson's grunting when something deviates to his unliking. Or when Violet speaks her mind in basically any matter.

    But those are just examples who have been enjoyable throughout the whole series. This movie is funny beyond that and in a pleasant way.

    But it's also the compassion throughout the whole story. How people get recognized for their talents or finally find their way in their life. Like for Mr. Molesley and Mr. Barrow. But those are just examples as well among many others.

    One thing keeps me from giving this a 10.. the background story of the house in France. I just don't buy that it would be given away to someone under those circumstances. It's just too far-fetched.

    For enjoyment throughout however it's easily a 10.