Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Focus Features | Release Date: September 12, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobeMeredith GoldsteinSep 11, 2025
The stakes in the film are high enough for some plot, but low enough to maintain healthy blood pressure. There is a delicious lack of exposition — and plenty of inside jokes for the true fans. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Nathalie AtkinsonSep 11, 2025
It all makes for an emotional send-off, with the reassuring familiarity of those heart-stirring strings cuing the final glimpse of the estate in silhouette at magic hour. Read full review
83
Original-CinChris KnightSep 11, 2025
I’ll admit it: It wasn’t easy to say goodbye to the Seventh Earl of Grantham, his extended family and friends, and his retinue of below-stairs staff. But fortunately, the two-plus hours that is Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale provides many an opportunity for them to say goodbye to us, and to remind each other — and viewers — that history continues to march forward, and things must change. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekSep 12, 2025
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale transports you to a time and place that seems so much more glamorous than our own, and to see it all splashed out on the big screen is almost overwhelming. It’s a genteel fantasy worth leaving the couch for. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithSep 11, 2025
If you emerge from this movie with a strong urge to rewatch the entire saga, you won’t be alone. Neither will those who emerge with tears of gratitude in their eyes. Read full review
80
VarietyTomris LafflySep 5, 2025
Despite the nostalgic glow that prettily coddles the film, there is a delectably unsubtle passing-the-baton theme that runs through the richly populated affair. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckSep 3, 2025
Julian Fellowes’ typical witty script proves a pleasure throughout. Read full review
80
Screen RantRachel LaBonteSep 3, 2025
This movie is as close to a perfect ending as the franchise could get. Read full review
80
Next Best PictureDan BayerSep 3, 2025
An enjoyable, meaningful, (mostly) sharply-scripted farewell to the beloved series. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzSep 12, 2025
The main appeal here is the chance to spend time in the company of superb actors who all wear their characters as comfortably as an old silk robe. Read full review
75
TheWrapMatt GoldbergSep 11, 2025
“The Grand Finale” is pure, uncut “Downton,” but one where screenwriter Julian Fellowes finally seems at peace with not trying to cram in every character into every scene. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshSep 11, 2025
With a mix of old characters and new, worldly upheaval and small-town dramas, Fellowes illustrates what "Downton" has always done best, which is a social examination of how much things have changed and how they haven’t changed at all. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldSep 11, 2025
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is as good as it needs to be, though like the other movies it’s probably a complete puzzlement to anyone not already familiar with the franchise, and creator/writer Julian Fellowes can’t resist having someone earnestly intone something about Things Change And We Must Change With Them every two minutes. Read full review
70
ColliderRoss BonaimeSep 15, 2025
The Grand Finale tries to bring some weightiness back into this world, and, for the most part, it works with a fitting conclusion to this universe. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 11, 2025
The director, Simon Curtis, deftly choreographs what feels like a series’ worth of brief interactions into a mostly satisfying whole. Read full review
70
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeSep 3, 2025
This Finale is basically one giant victory lap that takes the Crawley family and their employees into 1930 and beyond — as Cole Porter once wrote, “it’s fun/it’s fresh/it’s post-/depresh.” Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 12, 2025
“A Grand Finale” may not be all that grand, but it more or less checks off the boxes in allowing fans to revel in this world one last time and bid the great house and great cast bon voyage, even if the low-stakes/no-stakes send-off isn’t all it might have been. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 11, 2025
While there is some appeal in exploring how these characters might navigate the Depression and the approach of the Second World War, such arcs could never be properly developed within the confines of a feature film. The Grand Finale should be what its title promises: an elegant farewell. Read full review
63
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiSep 11, 2025
Nostalgia is a prime factor, yes, but the story is legitimately engrossing this time, however recycled it may be, rather than a lazy stack of trumpeted entrances and exits and half-witty asides that marred the 2019 and 2022 films. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckSep 10, 2025
This final movie will give loyal Downton fans what they want: a satisfying bit of closure and the sense that the future, though a bit scary, may look kindly on Downton Abbey as long as Mary is in charge. Read full review
60
Radio TimesJames MottramOct 3, 2025
It would be unfair to claim this closing film concludes on a whimper. But neither is it quite the grand finale the title would have us believe. More like a pleasant stroll with characters you know and love. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Roxana HadadiSep 12, 2025
Put aside the (lack of) realism of any of this and it’s thoroughly pleasurable. Read full review
60
EmpireJames DyerSep 10, 2025
Fellowes’ dewy-eyed swansong isn’t likely to make many Film Of The Year lists, but it still does Downton proud, closing the book on his Faragian utopia of stiff upper lips and British brio in a way that would do Cousin Violet proud. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenSep 9, 2025
Cheesier than a wheel of Stilton and about as edgy, Downton Abbey bows out with a cosy but loveable final instalment that will leave few dry eyes among long-time fans of Julian Fellowes’ British TV thoroughbred. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreySep 3, 2025
This is about as graceful and fitting an endnote as you could hope for. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 3, 2025
It’s not a peak for the doughty franchise so much as a reverential goodbye. Jollity is also served, when it’s not straining for misplaced importance. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 3, 2025
The film is very silly and always watchable in its weird way. Read full review
50
Washington PostTy BurrSep 11, 2025
If you have ever loved the Downton Abbey franchise, you will most likely enjoy this one while finding it pretty weak Darjeeling. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearSep 11, 2025
Despite the mix of succession-focused handwringing and a lot people busily running around, extremely little actually happens in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale — certainly not enough to justify a third feature. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesTara BradySep 10, 2025
Anne Robbins’s costumes are dazzling. The production designer Donal Woods makes a dull country-fair storyline look magical. But for all the nostalgic gibberish about passing the baton, this latest instalment stalls and curdles. Read full review
40
The TimesKevin MaherSep 3, 2025
The film, written by Julian Fellowes on autopilot and directed by Simon Curtis (in a trance?), climaxes with a scene that is simultaneously grossly saccharine and deeply cynical. Read full review
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