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* GenteelInterbellumSetting
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* GenteelInterbellumSettingGenteelInterbellumSetting: A title card places the events of the film in 1932; in the notes to his screenplay, Creator/JulianFellowes said this was intentional: although the interwar period lasted until September 1939, the years from 1933 (when the Reichstag was burned) and 1939 had a distinct [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying atmosphere of denial]] about them, and 1932 was the last year of "innocence" for Great Britain.
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* JurisdictionFriction: Mrs. Wilson, as head housekeeper, runs the "upstairs" servants' activities, while Mrs. Croft, as head cook, runs the basement kitchen; this occasionally causes friction over servants meant to run between the two "realms"; when Mrs. Wilson sees several of the servants listening to Novello's singing and tells them to get back to work, Mrs. Croft speaks up, saying Dorothy, at least, is under her authority at the moment.
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* FishOutOfWater: Poor Mabel...
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* FishOutOfWater: Poor Mabel...no longer a commoner, because she married an aristocrat. But said aristocrat squandered all of Mabel's money. Now she's poor again, accepted by no one, certainly not the fancy people at Sir William's house.
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* HypercompetentSidekick: Constable Dexter, deputy to Inspector Thompson the bumbling idiot. Dexter has to remind his boss not to touch anything to avoid leaving fingerprints. Dexter also notices the shattered cup and the mud on the floor, which Thompson fails to understand. And while Thompson cannot even conceive of the idea that someone from "downstairs" might have interacted with Sir William, Dexter is correct in thinking the killer might be among the servants. It's implied that if Dexter had been able to investigate the crime himself, he might have found the guilty party.
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* SmashToBlack: Used for scene transitions. Many times throughout the film, instead of cutting from one scene to the next in the regular way, the film cuts completely to black for a second or two before starting the next scene.
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His business venture has been saved by Sir William's death
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* NoEnding: Only the murder plot and a few others are concluded. All of the other plots are left up in the air, including [[spoiler: Isobel's heavily-implied abortion]] and [[spoiler: the altered relationship between Mabel and Freddie.]] The resolved plots include [[spoiler:Isobel standing up to her blackmailer and sending him packing, Colonel Meredith fixing up his relationship with his wife (though his business venture does seem kaput) and Elsie (it's heavily implied) manages to go into show business.]]
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* NoEnding: Only the murder plot and a few others are concluded. All of the other plots are left up in the air, including [[spoiler: Isobel's heavily-implied abortion]] and [[spoiler: the altered relationship between Mabel and Freddie.]] The resolved plots include [[spoiler:Isobel standing up to her blackmailer and sending him packing, Colonel Meredith fixing up his relationship with his wife (though his business venture does seem kaput) wife, and Elsie (it's heavily implied) manages to go into show business.]]
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%%* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler: Jennings.]]
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* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Constance makes a snide comment about how Ivor Novello's career is in the crapper now that ''Film/TheLodger'' bombed. The problem is that 1) this film is set a full five years after ''The Lodger'' was released, and 2) it was actually a smash hit that made the reputation of its director, Creator/AlfredHitchcock.
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* {{Bookends}}: ([[AllThereInTheScript per the screenplay]]) In the opening scene, Constance is unable to open a thermos herself, has her driver pull over, and calls her maid to exit the car, step to the back and open it for her. In the ending, as they are driving away from the estate, she is having trouble with another thermos, and is about to repeat the procedure, but instead exerts a little extra effort and is surprised and inordinately proud to be able to open it herself.
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* FakeBrit: American Ryan Philippe plays Scotsman Henry Denton. [[spoiler:Also, InUniverse as Henry Denton isn't actually Scottish, but American.]]
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* FakeBrit: American Ryan Philippe plays Scotsman Henry Denton. [[spoiler:Also, InUniverse as Henry Denton isn't actually Scottish, but American.]]
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* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Why Mary realises that there's something off with [[spoiler: Denton.]] Also during his second night with Lady Sylvia.
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* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Why Mary realises InUniverse. Parks notices that there's something off about Denton's accent, and Mary, who's actually Scottish, realizes that Denton isn't. Also, Denton briefly forgets and talks with [[spoiler: Denton.]] Also during his second night with natural American accent to Lady Sylvia.
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* FreezeFrameBonus: When Henry is trying to rape Mary, a "Fox Film" label can be seen on his pants. This is a quick hint that Henry is actually an actor.
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* CreepyHousekeeper: Mrs Wilson. Robert Altman mentions on the commentary that the only direction he gave to Helen Mirren was to think about Mrs Danvers from ''Film/{{Rebecca}}''. Mrs Danvers served as the inspiration for the fact that Mirren often just suddenly appears in the frame.
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* CreepyHousekeeper: Mrs Wilson. Robert Altman mentions on the commentary that the only direction he gave to Helen Mirren was to think about Mrs Danvers from ''Film/{{Rebecca}}''.''Film/{{Rebecca|1940}}''. Mrs Danvers served as the inspiration for the fact that Mirren often just suddenly appears in the frame.
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* TheBeautifulElite: PlayedWith. Creator/JulianFellowes' script makes clear that the British aristocracy is in its twilight; to the older generation of servants, such as Lady Sylvia's maid Lewis and Sir William's valet Probert, they are literally gods among men, but the younger generation, including Elsie, have [[NoHeroToHisValet no stars in their eyes]]. Lampshaded by Elsie while she and Mary are sharing a tidbit of gossip picked up from Constance:
-->''Why do we live our lives through them? Look at poor old Lewis. If her own mother was having a heart attack, she’d think it was less important than one of Lady Sylvia’s farts.''
-->''Why do we live our lives through them? Look at poor old Lewis. If her own mother was having a heart attack, she’d think it was less important than one of Lady Sylvia’s farts.''
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* {{Bookends}}: ([[AllThereInTheScript per the screenplay]]) In the opening scene, Constance is unable to open a thermos herself, has her driver pull over, and calls her maid to exit the car, step to the back and open it for her. In the ending, as they are driving away from the estate, she is having trouble with another thermos, and is about to repeat the procedure, but instead exerts a little extra effort and is surprised and inordinately proud to be able to open it herself.
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* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: William is a master gunsmith, and it's implied that he made his fortune making munitions during the War, but as Elsie says, if he actually shoots at anything, he ''"can't hit the side of a barn."''
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* TheDogBitesBack: After Freddie extracts a blackmail cheque from Isobel, Mabel confronts him in the middle of the drawing room and whispers for him to hand it over or else she'll scream bloody murder in front of ''everyone''. He spitefully tears up the cheque and hands her the pieces, but she couldn't care less about the money; what she cares about is that she's stood up to her abusive husband, and watched him fold like a cheap tent.
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In the opening scene; unable to open a thermos herself, Constance has her driver pull over, and her maid, Mary, exit the front passenger seat (in pouring rain) and turn to the back compartment to open it for her.
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* HypocriticalHumor:
-->'''Lavinia''': Don't be such a snob, Aunt Constance.\\
'''Constance''': Me? I haven't a snobbish bone in my entire body.
-->'''Lavinia''': Don't be such a snob, Aunt Constance.\\
'''Constance''': Me? I haven't a snobbish bone in my entire body.
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* ImpoverishedPatrician: Oh so many. In both his foreword to the screenplay, and the DVD commentary, Creator/JulianFellowes said, ''"the British aristocracy will tell you that they never talk about money, when in truth they think about nothing else."''
** Elsie informs Mary that Sylvia, Louisa and Lavinia's father is the Earl of Carton - ''"which sounds good except he didn't have a pot to piss in."''
** Elsie informs Mary that Sylvia, Louisa and Lavinia's father is the Earl of Carton - ''"which sounds good except he didn't have a pot to piss in."''
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* MutualEnvy: the Earl of Carlton's two eldest daughters, Sylvia and Louisa, "cut cards" (equivalent to flipping a coin) to see which of them would get to marry the wealthy Sir William [=McCordle=]. Sylvia won, and Louisa eventually married Lord Raymond Stockbridge, who was also rich, if not as rich as William. By the time of the film, both of them are convinced they'd have been happier with the other's husband:
** Sylvia despises William for his vulgar manners, his lack of breeding, and the fact that his money comes from industry, while coveting a man with Raymond's aristocratic upbringing and his status as a genuine war hero.
** Louisa, on the other hand, is bored out of her mind with a husband as correct and well-bred (i.e., stiff and unimaginative) as hers, and she and William openly enjoy flirting with each other.
** Unfortunately, neither of them envy their younger sister Lavinia, the only one of their father's daughters who's HappilyMarried, to a poor man who the rest of society dismisses as a loser.
** Sylvia despises William for his vulgar manners, his lack of breeding, and the fact that his money comes from industry, while coveting a man with Raymond's aristocratic upbringing and his status as a genuine war hero.
** Louisa, on the other hand, is bored out of her mind with a husband as correct and well-bred (i.e., stiff and unimaginative) as hers, and she and William openly enjoy flirting with each other.
** Unfortunately, neither of them envy their younger sister Lavinia, the only one of their father's daughters who's HappilyMarried, to a poor man who the rest of society dismisses as a loser.
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* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[CluelessDetective Inspector Thompson]] is interrogating the "upstairs" population one by one, and excitedly thinks he's found a motive for the murder when he hears that the victim threatened to cut off Lady Trentham's allowance. When questioning Lady Trentham, she pretends ignorance, and he calls in Mary to corroborate it. Mary very politely says she has no idea what the Inspector is talking about, and besides, the "upstairs" people would never discuss such sensitive matters in her hearing (which is two BlatantLies for the price of one). Inspector Thomas is stymied, and Constance later tells Mary that she'll be getting a ''big'' raise once they get home - not only is she profoundly grateful, but she has quickly come to appreciate that Mary is both sharp and loyal, a rare combination in any servant.
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* PlayingBothSides: {{Averted}}, as it's made clear that "upstairs" never, ''ever'' meets "downstairs" (at least not publicly).
** Henry Denton joins the "upstairs" crowd after [[spoiler:it's revealed that he's an American actor researching a role, not a Scottish valet.]] He complains that all the servants are treating him like a leper, when, unlike the rest of the "snobs" he actually spent time in their company, living like them.
--->'''Bertha''': Can't be on two sides at once, sir.\\
'''Henry''': ''(with genuine sadness)'' More's the pity.
** Mabel, the daughter of a working-class family that made good, has much more in common with the "downstairs" crowd than any other member of the "upstairs" crowd, but she is just as trapped "upstairs" with a group of snobs that all despise her.
** Henry Denton joins the "upstairs" crowd after [[spoiler:it's revealed that he's an American actor researching a role, not a Scottish valet.]] He complains that all the servants are treating him like a leper, when, unlike the rest of the "snobs" he actually spent time in their company, living like them.
--->'''Bertha''': Can't be on two sides at once, sir.\\
'''Henry''': ''(with genuine sadness)'' More's the pity.
** Mabel, the daughter of a working-class family that made good, has much more in common with the "downstairs" crowd than any other member of the "upstairs" crowd, but she is just as trapped "upstairs" with a group of snobs that all despise her.
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* TheScream: ''De Rigeur'' for a murder mystery; when Louisa discovers William in his study. The irony remarked upon later is that Louisa is the only member of the upstairs or downstairs group who's actually sorry he's dead; had anyone else discovered his body, including his own wife, he or she would likely have shrugged, walked outside and casually announced the news.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Mabel, who is the ButtMonkey of the entire "upstairs", including her own husband, for much of the film, decides she [[RageBreakingPoint just doesn't care anymore]], shrugs off Constance's snobbish comment about Mabel wearing the same dress two nights in a row, and confronts her husband in the middle of the evening company, saying she'll ''"scream this house down"'' if he doesn't give her the cheque he just blackmailed out of Isobel.
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*** [[spoiler:Before the murder occurs, several people move away from the main living room and don't come back until the murder is done. There is an explanation for all of them, except him (Nesbitt delivering a note to Isabel, Meredith going for marmalade, George going for a cigarette). He just pretends he was getting a hot-water bag, which doesn't take that long if it was prepared.]]
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*** [[spoiler:Before the murder occurs, several people move away from the main living room and don't come back until the murder is done. There is an explanation for all of them, except him (Nesbitt delivering a note to Isabel, Meredith going for marmalade, George going for a cigarette).cigarette and later to refill a milk carafe). He just pretends he was getting a hot-water bag, which doesn't take that long if it was prepared.]]
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* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Sir William.]]
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* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Sir William. Very few people in the house, above or below stairs, lack some reason to kill him.]]
