There’s been an odd resurgence of Sherlock Holmes adaptations and iterations over the past decade. Two MCU alum have taken the Holmes mantle — Benedict Cumberbatch in the UK TV series and Robert Downey Jr. in the Guy Ritchie film series. Jonny Lee Miller portrayed a more modern version of the iconic detective on the TV series Elementary. Even Will Ferrell played Holmes just a couple years ago in the awful Holmes & Watson. Netflix, however, has taken a different approach with a Sherlock story of their own –adapting a story where Sherlock isn’t the main character, but rather a different member of the Holmes family is.
Back in the mid-2000s, author Nancy Springer created a new series of detective series that centered around Enola Holmes, Sherlock’s teenage sister, solving mysteries and making her own mark on the world. Cutting to the present, Netflix has created an adaptation of Springer’s novels with Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown as the titular teen detective and it’s pretty interesting.
While her brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill, Witcher) has become a world-renowned detective and her brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin, Hunger Games) a successful aristocrat, Enola has stayed at the side of her rebellious mother (Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club). Despite her age and the fact the world simply doesn’t offer opportunities for a young woman, Enola proves she has quite the athleticism, intelligence, and creative problem solving to give both her brothers a run for their money thanks to her mother. However, when her mother mysteriously disappears and Mycroft simply wants to send Enola away to become a “proper young lady,” she sets out to solve her disappearance herself and ends up also becoming entangled in the mishaps of a “useless” young boy on the run named Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge, Paddington 2).
As a whole, the story of Enola solving her mother’s disappearance is solid for the most part but would’ve worked been better as a TV series. The film has to divulge all of its clues while also focusing on Tewkesbury’s issues (as Enola also becomes wrapped up in them) there’re times where the film is just quickly moving through things and not fleshing them out. Tewkesbury’s story consumes the film in a way that takes away from the initial plot of finding Enola’s mother. Don’t get me wrong, the Tewkesbury’s ordeal is fine, but having the two plot threads together really drags the pacing down. Two hours is quite sometime with so much to tackle and so many details and characters fly by at once that the experience begins to hit a wall at around the one-hour mark.
Thankfully, the cast makes the experience much more bearable as they display and disperse an immense amount of charm. Seeing Brown depart from her breakthrough performance as Eleven in Stranger Things is really great, and she commands the screen in a delightful and incredibly likable performance that’s easily the best thing about this film. She perfectly evokes every strength that Enola has under her belt and is just a ball of enjoyable energy that drives the entire film. She’s constantly trying to break barriers of the roles women were meant to play during the time, just as her mother taught her. It’s a rewarding journey watching Enola find her own role in the world.
Normally, it’d be tough to say that Enola could be a fitting inspiration for young women simply because she’s already a bad ass from the moment we meet her. However, her growth and the obstacles she faces don’t stem from her having to find strength, but rather proving to those around her how capable she is in a world that would rather just see her become a housewife. It’s a story about change that’s perfectly fitting for our time, now more than ever. It has this very compelling charm to it with how much of an influence her mother is on her and how she defies those that seek to keep her in place in very charming ways. Not to mention, regardless how it might impact the pace and length of the film, her character and Tewkesbury’s plot thread do match well and reflect the impact that a younger generation can have on changing the world around them.
The film does also do a great job fleshing out Enola’s charming energy that’s elevated through Brown’s performance through its visually intriguing style. From the old-timey film transitions to the use of Scrabble-like letter squares to help spell out new clues Enola figures out, is not only a strong reflection of the time, but also Enola. The transitions and stylistic choices tie back to Enola’s upbringing and it perfectly maintains her sparks and unique way of thinking. There’re definitely certain editing choices that feel reminiscent to Guy Ritchie Sherlock series, but it always eventually reflects Enola being a teen and it heavily adds to the film’s charm. The caricature drawings that Enola does are especially great as they are incredibly funny and add in some delightfully light-hearted moments. The only choice that is a little ‘meh’ at first is when Enola breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience. It’s an over-used cliché that’s really starting to become old. Yet, it surprisingly starts to grow on you as it just gives more time for Brown to warm your heart and love her more than ever in this role.
Outside of Brown, Cavil is strong as Sherlock. It’s actually very interesting to see Sherlock in a supporting role, and Cavil makes him memorable here as someone who’s sort of become disillusioned by his accolades. He’s not a selfish jerk or anything like that –Mycroft fills that role just fine — but it’s easy to tell that he’s not comfortable to return to his old stomping grounds or how Mycroft just wants to send Enola away. It’s different take on the character that’s pleasing to see, and that Cavil adds a genuine, fatherly care for Enola. Also, it’s kind of funny to see him be just a couple steps behind Enola the whole time. This not only proves Enola’s strengths as a detective, but makes him see the potential in her without having to make him look like an idiot to do so.
Partridge adds in some charm as Tewkesbury – especially when he’s with Brown as every scene between the two is genuinely fun, and their chemistry is really great. They bounce off of each other well and although he seems like a hopeless damsel in distress, he too also proves his worth in the end and is an effective partner in crime-solving for Enola.
Enola Holmes is a refreshing entry in the vast amount of Sherlock Holmes content we’ve been getting lately as its incredibly fun style, timely storytelling, and incredibly delightful performances, especially from Brown, create a charming mystery that’s fun for everyone. There’s even potential left towards the end for more, which makes sense given that there are plenty of more Springer stories to adapt, and I think that could be great to see and, in my opinion, might be better as a TV series just to be unrestricted by time as well as give us more of everything great this film has to offer.
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