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Parents' Guide to

Downton Abbey

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Gorgeous drama will thrill longtime fans of the show.

Movie PG 2019 122 minutes
Downton Abbey Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 21 parent reviews

Jennifer K.
Jennifer K. Parent
April 24, 2020
age 12+
1 person found this helpful.
Icestar2008
Icestar2008 Adult
April 28, 2023
age 13+

I LOVED the show, and I thought this movie was a bunch of ridiculousness

GOODNESS, if the show had been this awful I would’ve NEVER watched six seasons of it. I fell in love with the characters, the costumes, the cinematography, the score, EVERYTHING. I loved almost every minute of it. So did my mom. So we were super excited to watch this. Aaaaand we strongly disliked it. For one thing, the acting was really off. (Mr. Carson’s ridiculous line “THIS. IS. TREASON.” might be one of the most overacted, stupid things I’ve ever seen in a movie.) Cora talked weird, Mary had this dumb mid-life crisis that nobody cared about, Anna turned into a shady sheister, Mrs. Hughes (or Mrs. Carson, whatever) was a snippy brat, and everybody else was either A: awkward and dumb or B: overacted and weird. Besides Edith. She was great. Oh, and Molesley’s now an awkward jokester for no reason. And we have to mention Henry’s little cameo: He got on the screen and I thought, “Oh, hey, he’s actually acting himself! Finally!” two seconds later he throws his hat down on the floor and runs upstairs like he’s a ten year old boy. *sigh* And the extras… blergh. Extras are supposed to make a scene feel natural, like we’re not watching acting but a real life scene. They looked totally choreographed. And the score was super overbearing and just ridiculous. It took itself WAY too seriously. One moment it sounds like carnival music and the next it’s sounds like we’re at a funeral. The assassination attempt was so bad… it was just… you have to see it to see how bad it is. Oh, the storyline was thinner than paper too. And the camera films the footmen carrying trays of food like they’re soldiers marching off to war. That was another thing: I NEVER struggle with claustrophobia, but the way they filmed this was giving me tunnel vision. The way it was filmed was odd, to say the least. But even with how much I disliked it, I’m still going to watch the next film. For the sake of the show. Because apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.
See all 21 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Set two years after the series wrapped up, DOWNTON ABBEY finds the Crawley family and their servants in fine form. It's almost a decade after the Great War ended and still a generation before World War II will begin. Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern) are enjoying this peaceful period when a letter throws the estate into high tension: King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) plan to make a one-night visit to Downton. Now the entire Crawley family -- including Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), and Countess Violet (Maggie Smith) -- must pull together to make the visit a success. Downstairs, the servants labor mightily under the direction of Anna (Joanne Froggatt), Carson (Jim Carter), and Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier) to do the same.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (21 ):
Kids say (16 ):

Sumptuous and lovely, this film is a fitting capper to the hugely popular series; it will positively thrill longtime fans. All the flowers are in the bouquet. There are tiaras, silver patch boxes, Art Deco beaded dresses, and lots of long, loving shots of vintage motorcars tootling down country lanes cut through rolling green lawns. The servants wear the same uniforms; the nobles swan around in silk and fur; about the only change is that more folks have bobbed hair and the kids are a little bigger. In short, Downton Abbey the film feels pretty much exactly like a two-hour episode of Downton Abbey the TV show, and fans won't mind one bit.

The king and queen's arrival throws Downton into a tizzy, and -- as usual -- there are plenty of upstairs-downstairs subplots thrown in: The servants are ticked off about the high-handedness of the king and queen's staff, a strange figure is prowling around asking suspicious questions about the royal visit, the queen's lady-in-waiting (Imelda Staunton) has a secret that causes complications with an inheritance. In typical Downton style, the chief fallout is a bunch of concerned conversations in ornate drawing rooms; it all melts away as lightly as a feather on a vintage cloche, while the drama gets back to what it really does best: serving up period eye candy and giving the deliciously tart (as always) Smith all the choicest lines. May Downton ever reign.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how similar Downton Abbey the movie is to Downton Abbey the TV series. How is the film's universe expanded? Movies tend to be more expensively made than TV shows. What scenes did you notice that were likely costly to film? How were they more elaborate than scenes from the TV show?

  • Compare the number of servants in this film to the number of nobles and royals. How many people had to labor for noble/royal characters to live lives of ease? What things did the upper-crust characters have done for them that average people do for themselves?

  • Talk about Downton Abbey's time period. How were things changing for England and the world when the show first began? How did technology change life for both the upper and servant classes? How did the times change as the show went on, and then during the time period when the movie is set?

  • How do the characters in Downton Abbey show perseverance and teamwork? Why are these important character strengths?

  • How could you find out more about the historical events that Downton refers to or takes part in? How accurate do you think the movie is, from a historical perspective?

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