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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Lindsey Bahr

With ‘The Grand Finale,’ ‘Downton Abbey’ is really coming to an end

Downton Julian Fellowes Gareth Neame Grantham Hugh Bonneville Maggie Smith Violet Crawley
Film Review - Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale - (© 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Julian Fellowes has been saying goodbye to “Downton Abbey” for nearly as long as it has existed. By the fifth season of the series, he’d even grown accustomed to writing more definitive endings, not knowing that there would be a sixth season and three feature films to come.

But 15 years after the world first met Violet Crawley, Lord Grantham, Lady Mary, Mr. Carson, John Bates and everyone else upstairs and downstairs at that beautiful estate, the creators are really, truly closing a chapter and saying farewell with “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” which opens in theaters nationwide Friday.

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