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In the modern era, the sequel has changed from being entirely dependent on the immediate predecessor to being accessible to anyone who wanders into the theater. There are positives and negatives to both, however the prevailing theory (as evidenced by the sequels of late) is that it is better to make the movies as accessible as possible. The less “required reading” to understand what is happening in the theaters, the better for the casual viewer. Downton Abbey: A New Era works as a movie if one is already a fan of Downton Abbey (either the long-running ITV/PBS show or the movie in 2019), however if someone is just walking in fresh, the movie does not work well.
For someone who is not a fan of Downton Abbey, the best thing that could be said about the movie is that it is a bigger budget version of a lot of what made the television show popular for its run. There is the same cast that people have come to know and love, the same light-hearted look at British high society, and the same interpersonal drama that made the show popular. If someone likes all of that, they will enjoy more of that. That said, if someone is not inherently a fan of the property, there is nothing for a newcomer to latch onto since everything is already established.
At the end of the day, in an age where IP is king at the box office, it would stand to reason that the goal should be to open up something like Downton Abbey to as many viewers as possible. Moving abroad to air on PBS, and then moving even further into the theatrical space, is going to make the movie infinitely more accessible but the plot and relationships are still dependent on past experiences. When one looks at other recent (and successful) sequels have done is gone out of their way to lower barriers of entry so someone off the street can come in and watch it. Logan, the last movie where Hugh Jackman appears as Wolverine, is written in such a way that anyone can walk into the movie and understand the relationships. The Fast and the Furious movies have an almost anthology-like approach where the movies are connected but one does not need to see all the past ones to understand the most recent entries. Star Wars even ditched episode numbers on the home media, posters, and other promotional materials for the sequel trilogy in an effort to keep people from thinking there were six prior movies they would have to see before seeing The Force Awakens.
All this is to say that there really is no way to give a fair assessment of Downton Abbey: A New Age. It would be unfair to say that the movie is not good as someone who has not seen everything to understand what is going on fully because by all accounts (including several sold-out screenings) the movie is very good for fans of the franchise. Not everything is specifically for everyone and Downton Abbey does have its audience in the same way that theatrical religious programming, children’s movies, and foreign films do have their respective barriers of entry and audience members willing to overcome them to enjoy the experience. For the base experience that is universal, the acting is fine and the movie’s strongest points come from production design so it is pretty to look at and well made on just about every technical level.
Final Rating: 8/10
