As soon as the Downton Abbey theme hits the speakers in your local movie theater, patrons will visibly relax in their seats. Some may even clap.

For two hours, viewers will be transported to the early-20th-century world of the Crawleys and the close-knit tribe of servants working for the aristocratic family. They are a cast of characters so ingrained in television history that it seems almost strange yet delightful to see them on the big screen.

Yes, nearly four years after the series finale , Downton Abbey is back with a film revival, revisiting the upstairs-downstairs life of the fictional British estate. The film, written by creator Julian Fellowes and directed by Michael Engler, follows the drama that unfolds when King George V and Queen Mary stay at Downton. With them comes a slew of royal servants and a distant relative of the Crawleys, Lady Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), who previously had a falling out with the family matriarch, the undeniably exquisite Dowager Countess of Grantham (Dame Maggie Smith), setting up plenty of tension and intrigue.

If theres one thing to make a fuss over, its surely Smiths performance, according to her co-star Jim Carter, who plays butler Mr. Carson. He told HuffPost that after devouring the series in his living room every Sunday night, it was a wonder to watch the movies storylines unfold in front of an audience at the U.K. premiere last week. The film opens in wide release Friday.

To see people laughing and applauding and cheering and really getting into it and enjoying it [was fantastic], he said in a Build Series appearance with fellow cast members Monday. But the great thing for me was to see Maggie Smiths lines with an audience. I think Julian Fellowes is writing at his best when he writes for Maggie and, of course, if I could use a slight Americanism here, she knocks them out of the park. You see the best of Julian and Maggie in this film, and its a treat.

And Maggie and Penelope [Wilton] together are on fire, Lesley Nicol, who plays cook Mrs. Patmore, chimed in.

That statement is indeed correct. The actors, both dames mind you, are sumptuous as usual zinging one-liner after one-liner at each other with ease and cheeky humor as the Dowager and Isobel Crawley. Once foes , theyre now the best of sidekicks, and the brightest part of the film.