In the case of “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” parting is such sweet — and delightfully sappy — sorrow.

We’ve been through so much with the aristocratic Crawley family of the TV-and-film franchise’s namesake fictional Yorkshire estate — and the clan’s servants — that it’s hard to believe the series “Downton Abbey” debuted on these shores less than 15 years ago. In that time, there have been romances and births and scandals and shocking deaths.

Oh, and tea! So much tea!

The beloved creation of Julian Fellowes is taking a final bow with this last of three big-screen installments. In theaters this week, “The Grand Finale” follows 2019’s “Downton Abbey” and 2022’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era.”

As with those flavorful but flawed endeavors, “The Grand Finale” is penned by Fellowes. And, like the first two cinematic offerings, it suffers from the obligation he clearly feels to give each of the myriad figures we’ve come to know at least the tiniest of plot shares. As a result, the affair often feels less like an organic story and more of the checking off of a list.

Regardless, “The Grand Finale” — directed, as was “A New Era” by Simon Curtis — boasts more than a couple of moments that should prove to be priceless for longtime fans and, more importantly, a final few emotions-stirring minutes.

The air breathed by the Crawleys and their loyal staff continues to be thick with change as the saga picks back up in 1930. The loss of the Dowager Countess (the late Maggie Smith) is being felt by more than her son, Lord Grantham Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville).

Robert, meanwhile, has pledged to turn over the running of the estate to eldest daughter Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), but he’s been having trouble letting go, to say the least. The same can be said for Charles Carson (Jim Carter), the head butler, who’s retiring and handing over the reins to the younger Andy Parker (Michael Fox). And, by the way, Andy’s wife, Daisy (Sophie McShera), is set to take over the kitchen for the retiring cook, Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol).

So, goodness, it certainly is a time of significant transition at Downton.

However, the story actually begins in London, where the Crawleys and a few essential servants are taking in a play penned by Noel Coward (Arty Froushan) and starring Guy Dexter (Dominic West). (And if you’re wondering, yes, the Crawleys have better seats than the help.) Guy, a big-name actor who was introduced in the previous movie, is still engaged in a fairly obvious but certainly not public relationship with former Crawley servant Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier).

It is in the bustling city that Mary and, subsequently, those around her learn that her divorce from Henry Talbot (an unseen Matthew Goode) is official, a situation that fuels the tale’s primary plot. When the development quickly becomes public, Mary becomes an outcast, even being asked, only reasonably politely, to leave a societal affair before royalty arrives.

Things aren’t much easier back home, where the Crawleys’ neighbors suddenly are too good to dine with them at the country estate.

The B plot centers around Robert’s wife, Countess of Grantham Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), whose American brother, Harold Levinson (Paul Giamatti, reprising the role he played briefly on the TV series), has lost much of the family fortune. He visits Downton to ask for her permission to sell the home of their late mother to recoup losses and to pay what he owes to a financial adviser and friend, Gus Sambrook (Alessandro Nivola).

Gus takes an immediate interest in the seemingly vulnerable Mary, leading to a night that further complicates her life.

There’s no need, really, to go on about the performances of the familiar players; these actors and others we’ve not mentioned — including, but not limited to, Brendan Coyle, Joanne Froggatt, Phyllis Logan, Laura Carmichael, Penelope Wilton and Kevin Doyle — contribute, as they long have, to making the “Downton” experience as rich as it is.

The standout newcomer is, without question, Froushan (“Daredevil: Born Again”), who, as the multitalented, confident and barely closeted Coward, brings a little spice to his every scene.

With the title “The Grand Finale,” you may be expecting this all to lead to more than a reasonably important dinner at the estate and a county fair — where we wait for the ultra-snobby Sir Hector Moreland (a fun Simon Russell Beale) to get what’s coming to him. However, the stakes have ever been only so high in this prim, proper and altogether charming world, so why change that now?

Still, those final few aforementioned moments really do deliver, as expected and conventional as they are. (To those who need them: have your tissues at the ready.)

Fellowes, whose HBO period series “The Gilded Age” recently was renewed for a fourth season on HBO, has been clear that for all intents and purposes, this is the end of the Crawleys’ story. And while you exit the theater seeing a way for it to continue, it’s hard to second guess that choice.

They’ve done their bit for king, country and all of us who’ve cherished them these many years.

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‘DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG (for suggestive material, smoking and some thematic elements)

Running time: 2:03

How to watch: In theaters Sept. 12

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