"The modern world comes to Downton," proclaims Lady Cora Crawley in the second Downton Abbey film, and indeed it has, with the next film-length instalment of Julian Fellowes' period drama bringing the franchise quite literally into A New Era.
It’s the early 1930s in England, and everyone at Downton seems…well, living happily ever after. As we attend the wedding of once-chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech) and Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), a well-hatted roundup of your favourites is ready for their close up, as the familiar notes of John Lunn's whimsical theme tornado through the film's overtly cheerful opening montage.
Since the end of the series and the royal visit of the first film, everything's been pretty much wrapped up, both upstairs and down at Downton, so there's nowhere for director Simon Curtis really to go than well, the South of France! For an unexpected inheritance! With the revelation from Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, about a surprise villa and her "idyllic interlude" with an old flame (that had Mamma Mia’s "Honey, Honey" taking up ample space in my head), the film's core dramatic narrative sees half the group investigating the nature of this mysterious bequeathal and spending entire scenes deciding on which new French hat to buy.
But we can't quite abandon the eponymous estate, so Hollywood comes to Downton, with the arrival of the British Lion studio, its impossibly debonair director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy), and shining star Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock). Though some (ahem, Mr Carson, the Dowager Countess) despise the idea of a moving picture of all things being made in their hallowed halls, the rest of the family are beyond excited by the concept (and the filming fee), determined to "enter the 1930s with their heads held high" and not rained on by the many holes in the roof.
Pinching a storyline right out of Singing in the Rain, the film plays with the awkwardness of the era of movies transitioning from silent films to talkies, and the looming peril faced by actors whose face might "sell a million tickets" but whose vocal talents might not. It's here newcomer Haddock leans into the well-starched frivolity of a decadent period piece like Downton, valiantly disrupting scenes as Miss Dalgleish and bringing much-needed hilarity to every austere, gilded room she enters. Without her — and a frankly show-stealing monologue at her from Daisy (Sophie McShera) — the whole storyline could have fallen incredibly flat.
While films about making films can win Oscars feel a little like kissing one's own posterior at times, A New Era at least gives viewers a fun look at how the talkies were made, with real-time foley and voice over work performed live, and numerous knowing references to 1927 classic musical The Jazz Singer, 1928 horror film The Terror, and name-dropping Charlie Chaplin. The Singing in the Rain storyline replication might irk some, but it's fun enough to watch your favourite Downton faces get into the action — shout out to surprise screenplay aficionado, Mr Molesley (Kevin Doyle).
Not everyone is convinced, however. "This stinks of the worst excesses of the French Revolution," scorns the Dowager Countess (the inimitable Dame Maggie Smith). And if there's one character the film seems entirely made for, it's Violet Crawley. Smith drops one-liners like "I'd rather earn my living down a mine," and "I thought the best thing about films is that I couldn't hear them," with that signature harmless venom viewers returned season after season for, and during my screening, the audience audibly high-fived every single one.
A New Era sees exactly that within the estate, with the rise of Lady Mary Talbot (the ever-excellent Michelle Dockery) as the new captain of the Downton ship. But aside from her simmering pairing with the handsome director, there's little going on for one of Downton's most tempestuous characters — the tension between Lady Mary and Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) that fuelled the series has ebbed, Mary’s husband is nowhere to be seen yet again, and she's happily raising her children. Yes, she's looking at a big new role running the household, but if we know Lady Mary, she's totally got this.
Downton Abbey: A New Era leans into pure fantasy, somewhat smacking you around the head with Lunn's whirling score and almost making it impossible not to have a good time seeing what old friends are up to. Though Downton revels in historically contextual less-is-more storylines, the stakes seem much lower here than many of the biggest moments of the series, with most characters in a pretty good life situation by now, and the few "shocking" revelations in the film delivered with such over-the-top reactions the audience was actually hooting.
Playing it safe is the order of the day, which works for the most part, though will leave viewers frustrated over the role this plays in a storyline involving butler Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier) and film star Guy Dexter (Dominic West). Aside from a desparate kiss between Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham, and Lady Cora, there’s little passion between characters, something the far hornier first film relished in, and it seems like a missed opportunity in such luxurious, splendorous settings.
Nonetheless, you'll have a great time if you're a fan. Downton Abbey: A New Era is the closing chapter of a beloved story that felt already reasonably resolved, but nonetheless should delight fans of the series who've been missing these characters in their lives.
Downton Abbey: A New Era opens in U.S. theaters May 20.
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