While searching for her missing mother, fearless teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outwit elder brother Sherlock and help a fugitive lord.
Watch the Trailer
Everyone knows about the greatest detective till the age, Sherlock Holmes. But now it’s time to learn about the female detective who outsmarts Sherlock, his very own sister Enola Holmes.
Directed by Harry Bradbeer, Enola Holmes is an outstanding movie (available on Netflix) filled with mysteries interconnected with past, present and future. the role being played by Millie Bobby Brown to be wise beyond her years, solve puzzles that are both mentally and physically challenging, and provide a clear path forward in a world that is dark and perplexing.
As the title character in “Enola Holmes,” Brown propels all those responsibilities again—only this time, she gets to have a complete explosion doing it. Brown is nothing short of brilliance here, displaying the same sort of mature presence and equilibrium we’ve seen on the Netflix sci-fi series but also an engaging playful side and flawless comic timing. It’s like discovering her for the first time all over again, and it’s a joy. And if the way “Enola Holmes” ends is any indication, this may be the start of a most welcome girl-powered franchise.
The movie flows with a magnificent twist where Brown actually narrates the phases like a storyteller in the middle of the scenes, as if she is talking to the movie fans through the screen.
In the script from Jack Thorne, Enola notes that her name when turned backwards is “Alone”. And she and her thoroughly unorthodox mother are exactly that as they sneak about their spacious country mansion doing whatever they please: painting, reading, even playing tennis and archery indoors. But then she disappears suddenly as Enola turns 16, leaving her daughter to fend for herself with a series of cryptic clues and a couple of disapproving older brothers who’ve returned to check on her.
Henry Cavill who plays the role of Sherlock, is the hunkiest Holmes ever and Sam Claflin literally gets a mustache to twirl as the arrogant, devious Mycroft. But while Sherlock seems to appreciate his little sister’s sharp mind and energetic attitude, Mycroft is humiliated by how unkempt and uncouth she’s become, and insists on sending her to an uptight finishing school to turn her into a proper lady. But while it takes place as parliamentarians are considering women’s suffrage and Enola’s battle cry (handed down from her forward-thinking mother) is “Our future is up to us,” the film as a whole is mostly a light, family-friendly adventure, filled with secret codes to decipher and hidden treehouses in the woods.
Amidst the journey to London to hunt down her mum, Enola ends up running into and accidently rescuing the Viscount Lord Tewksbury, Marquess of Basilwether (Louis Partridge) in the train, who turns out to be an escaped teenager, just like her. And just like her, he doesn’t want to follow the elegant path his family has laid out for him. With his dark, floppy hair and sly smile, the enchanting young man has a mesmerising appearance, and he and Brown share a lively, hyper-verbal chemistry.
At over two hours, “Enola Holmes” does run a bit too long, though. It also turns weirdly violent towards the end in a way that’s an incongruous shift from the adventures previously, which were only kinda-scary at times. But hopefully Brown—as both star and producer—will continue solving mysteries in England between seasons of solving mysteries in Hawkins, Indiana.