Downton Abbey: A New Era

Showtimes June 3 - 9:

Even with the title “A New Era,” the film turns out to be reassuringly on brand. The Crawley family’s story, after all, will always revolve around births, deaths, marriages, inheritance, and forbidden or long-hidden romances.

At the start of this particular moment in the family’s history, the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) comes into possession of a villa in the south of France, thanks to a long-ago paramour. At the same time, a handsome producer named Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy) would like to use her sprawling British estate to shoot his next “moving picture.” While half of the family journeys to the Mediterranean to investigate the new villa, others stay behind to supervise a Hollywood crew whose use of their estate will help them subsidize repairs to the home they’ve all grown to love.

Like the show, the film is high-toned formula – from its opening swoops over spire-tipped turrets and green-velvet lawns to its soft-focus finish. But it also feels like home. For those who’ve poshed it up with the Crawleys since the very start, as well as for anyone wishing to dip their toes in for the first time, this is an affectionate, escapist hug of a movie.

(UK / 2022 / Directed by Simon Curtis)
PG / 2 hrs 5 mins