Movie Review: Enola Holmes (2020)

Enola Holmes (2020) directed by Harry Bradbeer

Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) is the teenage sister of Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill). She's been growing up with their mom (Helena Bonham Carter) at an isolated estate in the countryside. Mom has been training Enola in archery, tennis, chemistry, biology, self-defense and attack, and a host of other skills, except for living as a lady in polite Victorian society. Mom has little interest in such things and encourages no interest in her daughter. Sherlock and Mycroft (Sam Claflin) have kept the two a secret to keep their private lives private. Things change when Mom vanishes without warning. The brothers return to the estate which is in poor shape. Mycroft has been sending lots of money to maintain things but Mom has been using the cash for other, unexplained purposes. Mom also left clues about where she went, but only Enola and Sherlock recognize them. Mycroft, now that Enola is his ward, wants to send her off to finishing school, a poor fit for Enola. She decides to run away and uses her Holmesian intellect to escape mostly undetected.

While she is on the run hunting down her mother's whereabouts, she runs into the teenaged Viscount of Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) who is on the run from his own family. Someone is trying to kill him. She very reluctantly helps him out, insisting that they part ways once they reach London. Enola is going there to find her mom; Tewkesbury plans to hide in safety. Their paths cross again and again as a political conspiracy is uncovered and she starts falling for the viscount's charms. She doesn't fall enough for romance but they do have some meaningful looks and touches.

The show is very entertaining. Enola does a lot of talking to the camera (thereby the audience), explaining her life and what her memories and plans are. That can be a tough burden for an actor but Brown does a great job of it. The movie has a whimsical tone and often uses cute graphics (though of a Victorian appearance) to enhance the narrative, like Stranger Than Fiction. The plot moves on at a good pace. The mysteries and puzzles are interesting though not really solvable by viewers for various reasons, much like the Sherlock Holmes stories. The other actors are okay, nothing outstanding and nothing horrible. Mycroft is a little one-dimensional but that's the script making him into a bad guy. Overall, it's an enjoyable movie to watch and respects the Sherlock Holmes world fairly well.

Recommended.

Currently (May 2022) only available streaming on Netflix.