Downton Abbey: A New Age

The first Downton Abbey film excelled at bringing the beloved PBS series to the screen while also making it accessible for novices of the Crawley family — but generally played things safe.

With that introductory chapter out of the way, series creator Julian Fellowes and his team more fully stretch out with Downton Abbey: A New Era, and take their cherished characters to glorious new heights.

Following a smile-inducing reunion with the entire upstairs and downstairs crews at the nuptials of Tom Branson (Allen Leech) and Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), the sequel kicks its plot into gear as Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) announces that she’s inherited a villa in the south of France from the recently deceased Marquis de Montmirail and is gifting it to her granddaughter Sybbie (Fifi Hart).

While the family attempts to suss out why a man Violet knew for one week, decades ago, would give her his lavish vacation home, Downton is offered a sudden injection of much-needed funds when film producer/director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy) requests to shoot his next silent feature in the hallowed estate — news that understandably pleases the starstruck servants more than the tradition-minded Crawleys.

Though there’s plentiful humor in Robert (Hugh Bonneville) revealing his fuddy-duddy tendencies regarding cinema, and Violet and Isobel (Penelope Wilton) shuddering at shouts of “action,” Fellowes wisely jettisons these naysayers and most of the family to France, leaving Mary (Michelle Dockery) to oversee the house during production.

Propelled by the economic screenplay, satisfying drama unfolds on the mainland as the new Marquis de Montmirail (Jonathan Zaccaï, Robin Hood) and his mother (Nathalie Baye, Catch Me If You Can) take markedly different approaches to their home’s new owners, gradually revealing information regarding the two families’ connection that shakes Robert to his core.

But director Simon Curtis (Goodbye Christopher Robin) pushes A New Era to its best moments by capturing the magic of moviemaking in the late 1920s — a tumultuous time that puts the careers of Barber and his stars Guy Dexter (Dominic West) and Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) in jeopardy as talkies overtake the market.

Thanks to some quick thinking by Mary, the show goes on, albeit in a manner perhaps overly reminiscent of Singin’ in the Rain. Still, Fellowes has fun with the rich material and puts just enough of a fresh spin on it, continuing his tradition of sharply blending comedy and melodrama.

In addition to Violet’s usual barrage of zingers and Molesley (Kevin Doyle) stealing damn near all of his scenes in his usual awkwardly charming way, A New Era hits some big emotional beats and offers an even more deft handling of gay relationships than its forebear.

Each character gets something notable to do, and even the absence of Mary’s husband Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode) is worked around well enough. It all points to the potential for many more movies with the Crawleys, though as with the previous film, Fellowes also tidies things up to the extent that, should he desire to move on, he’d leave Downton Abbey with a lovely end.

Grade: A-minus. Rated PG. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, the Fine Arts Theatre, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Ben Blackall / Focus Features)