Downton Abbey has been a beloved franchise since it premiered in 2010, spawning six seasons, five Christmas specials and a movie trilogy. One great — and possibly too rarely used — way to pay homage to such a phenomenon is to parody it, and that’s the treatment Fackham Hall is giving the British period drama. The spoof hit the 2025 movie calendar this weekend with a brand of humor that’s lifting the spirits of many critics, while inspiring little more than a light chuckle from others.
Fackham Hall features the charming pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) accidentally landing a job at the titular English manor. From there, Noone climbs the ranks and becomes involved with the lady of the house, Rose Davenport (Thomasin McKenzie). However, when murder strikes the manor, Eric is framed, throwing the house into chaos. Elaina Patton of IndieWire rates the film a B, writing that it’s filled with non-stop gags, from puns to wordplay to slapstick stunts, but still packs in plenty of plot. Patton writes:
