Hey there everybody and here I am with a new 2020 movie review! Today I’m going to take a look at one of Netflix’s more high profile films of last year which is Enola Holmes. Originally intended to be released in theaters by Warner Bros., the streamer ended up getting the distribution rights thanks to the pandemic. It is apparently based off of a book series written by Nancy Springer entitled The Enola Holmes Mysteries which follows the adventures of Sherlock Holmes’s sister. That seems like a neat concept to explore and as someone who always likes seeing different takes on classic literary franchises such as Sherlock Holmes, I was excited to see how this movie would turn out, especially with the high profile cast that they got for it. Good news is that I was very much entertained by this film as it ended up being a rather fun spin on the Sherlock Holmes mythos. Let’s see why that is as we jump back to Victorian era London to see what sort of mystery the sister of the world’s greatest detective is trying to solve.
Narrated by the title character herself, Enola is the youngest of the famed Holmes family, yet still has a remarkable intelligence for her age and goes against many of the societal norms for women at the time. This is in large part thanks to her mother, Eudoria, who has taught her pretty much every skill you can think of and she always encourages her daughter to be strong willed and independent. On Enola’s 16th birthday however, Eudoria mysteriously vanishes which leads to Enola’s brothers, Sherlock, and Mycroft to come to take care of things at the home and while the former is impressed by his sister’s intellect, the latter is rather annoyed by it, finding it to be troublesome. So he tries to send her away to a finishing school which she clearly doesn’t want. Before she is set to go, she finds some hidden messages left by her mother and then decides to escape disguised as a boy in order to hopefully find her. While on the train she finds a boy named Tewkesbury, a young viscount , who is one the run from a shady man trying to kill him for unknown reasons. Despite some hesitation, Enola decides to help him out and from there a new mystery unfolds as Enola sets out to find out who wants the young lord dead and why.
One of the things that made this movie such a fun watch was it’s quirky and fun sense of humor that is present through most of the movie. The way in which Enola would tell the story by breaking the forth wall worked for me as it was a clever storytelling device that fits with the character and never felt out of place given the amount of energy there is to the proceedings and a lot of the back and forth banter she has with many of the other characters like Sherlock and Tewksbury is sharp and entertaining to watch. It made for a very enjoyable time, but at the same time the writers are still able to balance that charm with a mostly investing narrative. The film does a nice job setting up the relationship between Enola and her mother making the disappearance of the latter all the more intriguing and it got me even more interested in seeing what Enola was going to do to find her. Admittedly it did feel strange when the story just switched gears into this mystery surrounding a murder attempt on Tewksbury and everything related to that and it was an awkward shift that made the film pretty uneven in story wise. But I still remained invested in the characters, the mother’s disappearance does play a role in the main plot line and it was a nicely handled mystery with a twist that did make sense even if it’s nothing too shocking. I also liked the way in which it tackled how the roles of women in society were viewed at that time. There are times where it feels like the movie is just shoving it down the throats but it still plays a huge part in Enola’s character arc and it made sense within the context of the film. Other than that it serves as a delightful adventure with a lot of heart and charm to spare that given that there is one pretty big plot thread left hanging by the end, could be the start of a fun series.
As I mentioned the movie has a lot of energy to it and a good chunk of that can also come from Harry Bradbeer’s direction. He brings the right amount of it to the proceedings and in doing so it helps in making the film move at a decent pace and in living everything up. The action in particular are pretty exciting and have a surprising amount of intensity to them like the first act train sequence where Enola and Tewkesbury are on the run from Linthorn, and a fight between the former and latter in a street alley. Also, the stylistic choices worked for me in particular when Enola would explain certain things and then these scrap book like visuals would pop up as it fits in with the tone and the characterization of Enola the movie establishes as well as being a fun and inventive way of delivering the needed exposition. As for the setting of the feature I thought the production team did a fine job of capturing Victorian era London, both the elegant, classy aspects and the more street level parts of it through the sets and costumes and it did have a nice look to it. Plus Daniel Pemberton’s music for the movie is nicely done, adding to many of the action scenes in particular and it is a solid score on the whole that gets the job done. Once more, like other recent ventures this does look and feel like a decently budgeted studio film that was made for theaters… which makes sense in this case because this originally was intended for that.
Probably my favorite aspect of the film though was the cast who all gave really fun performances and each member stood out in some ways. Of course there’s there eponymous title character played by Stranger Things star, Millie Bobbie Brown, who is very well cast as Sherlock’s determined and risk taking younger sister, bringing the right amount of charm and personality to make her likable. I also found the character herself to be nicely written as we see her grow into a fully confident and mature young lady who is willing to do anything it takes to protect those she loves. Brown also has excellent chemistry with her fellow cast mates with Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes being one of the stand outs. Cavill does very strong work in showing off the character’s intelligence, yet he also is able to make the character his own in different ways like how this Sherlock noticeably shows more concern and admiration towards others like Enola even if he is not without his character flaws as well. The other Holmes’s brother, Mycroft, is not quite as compelling as he mostly serves to scold Enola for her not wanting to be a proper lady and is really unlikable, but given the setting and the themes the movie is tackling it works with that in mind and Sam Claflin is good at capturing that personality. As for Tewkesbury, he makes for a solid would be love interest for Enola, plays an important role in the story (really his whole family is integral to the main plot but he naturally gets the most focus), has some fun interactions with our protagonist, and is played well by Louis Partridge who brings a lot of charisma to the role. The rest of the supporting cast is full of solid character actors doing well with the material they given with Adeel Akhtar making for a fun Detective Lestrade, Burn Gorman bringing appropriate menace as the assassin, Linthorn, and Susan Wokoma bringing some fiery determination as teahouse/martial arts school owner, Edith. Oh and while she is only in the movie for a limited amount of time Helena Bonham Carter (eccentric as always, but with a bit more gravity here) plays an integral role as Enola’s mother and I thought that mother daughter relationship was well established and among the more compelling aspects of the movie. It’s also a plot thread that (slight spoilers) I hope gets explored more in a future sequel and heck if it means seeing all of these actors as these characters again I’d be more than down for that.
In the end, I thought Enola Holmes was a delightful take on the Sherlock Holmes mythos thanks to it’s charm, interesting mystery and message, nice production values, fun characters, and excellent work from the cast. I may find it’s story switch unevenly done, it’s central mystery may not be the most shocking, and I do feel like the message is spelled out a little too much over the course of it’s runtime, but none of that detracted from my personal enjoyment and I can absolutely see a follow up improving on these nit picks while maintaining what I enjoyed about it. If you want a solid adventure to watch then this will most likely satisfy and I’m looking forward to seeing what escapades Enola and co. will go on next!
Rating: B+
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