Enola Holmes Movie Review
Nathan Swank
October 6th, 2020
An adventurous mystery, ENOLA HOLMES is a lighter, Sherlock-esque journey that combines humor and intrigue. As Sherlock Holmes’ kid sister, ENOLA HOLMES is geared for a more youthful teenage audience, but can be fun and enjoyable for all ages.
Raised and taught by her eccentric, but intelligent mother (Helen Bonam Carter), Enola (Millie Bobbie Brown) awakens one day to find her mother missing. Her estranged brothers, Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), show up to put her in a proper establishment that will confine her to society’s more lady-like teachings. Enola wants no part of that and upon clues left by her mother, escapes to create an adventure of her own with the purpose to discover the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.
Enola’s quest is sidetracked by a boy (Louis Partidge). Thankfully, it’s less about the lovey dovey aspects and more about him being the damsel in distress who Enola is compelled to rescue and help solve his mystery as to why an evil henchman (Burn Gorman) is trying to murder him.
Based on the book by Nancy Springer and adapted for screen by Jack Thorne (WONDER), ENOLA HOLMES is an easily recommendable adventurous family film. Director Harry Bradbeer fills the screen with youthful energy. Bradbeer has won a couple of Emmy’s directing Amazon’s off-beat and hilarious Fleabag, which has given him plenty of practice having a witty protagonist break the fourth wall.
Mystery, action, and intrigue mixed with humor and great characters, ENOLA HOLMES is fun, but not quite top shelf material. For one, the film drags in a few places and would be better served cutting about twenty minutes from its 123 minute running time.
Millie Bobbie Brown, who also produced the film, is perfect as the strong, clever, and crafty Enola Holmes and much like the books, I definitely believe there is a future for many more Netflix sequels. I know there has been some talk about Henry Cavill’s Sherlock being a bit too caring, which goes against the character, but to that I say, fiddlesticks. This story is not about him and I found the always charming Cavill’s limited time on screen and portrayal of the famous detective simply delightful.
I am not sure why ENOLA HOLMES is rated PG-13. Yes, there is violence, but it’s mostly kicks and punches thrown from a teenage girl as she whoops up on a wicked bad guy. I’m not gonna say a specific attempt at drowning wasn’t a bit harsh, but it ends with a wink and a “take that” before things get too disastrous. Personally, I think ENOLA HOLMES is more PG than some of Disney’s animated films. So ignore the rating. Other than it probably being a bit too boring for little ones, ENOLA HOLMES is suitable material for the entire family.
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