The Story
We all know the famous literary detective Sherlock Holmes. But how much do we know about his family besides Mycroft? This film follows a blooming branch from the Holmes family tree– the young, clever, and energetic Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown).
Enola was raised solely by her mother, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter), who suddenly disappears without bidding her daughter farewell. She is then met by her brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), who find her personality unladylike. They send her to a school that promises to groom her into a proper lady, but Enola makes her escape to find her mother.
Enola’s journey takes another setback after she meets a runaway marquess (Louis Partridge) who is being chased by a hired killer. Now, she must use her own sleuthing abilities to unravel the truth behind the threat to the young noble’s life; while searching for her mother and dodging Mycroft’s plans to turn her into a “proper lady.”
Watch this if you
Love mystery adventure stories; especially, if you’re leaning more on the adventure aspect. Enola Holmes is like a YA take on a Sherlock Holmes story. The young female protagonist isn’t like her brother Sherlock in this film who heavily rely on his deduction on ashes, scratches, and other seemingly unsuspicious objects to solve the mystery, no. While Enola does show off a similar talent, she mostly finds the answers to her questions by wandering the streets of London disguised as a boy, a lady, or even a widow; while facing threats with only her bare hands, the art of jiu-jutsu, and of course, her quick-thinking.
To put it simply, this is the Sherlock Holmes for a younger audience, specifically young women who can relate to Enola the most. But anyone can enjoy the film and appreciate the fast-paced fun and thoughtful plot it offers.
What I think
The cast of this flick was enough to get many people curious and excited to watch it. Of course, there’s the Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown playing Enola, and The Witcher Henry Cavill, playing literature’s most famous detective. Joined by multi-awarded actress Helena Bonham Carter, Sam Claflin, and Louis Partridge, the film just sets off with a promising ensemble of actors who, obviously, didn’t disappoint with their performances.
As soon as the film began, when Enola faced the viewers to tell her story, it was pretty clear that this is the kind of film one can just sit out and enjoy. Unlike other detective stories, you don’t need to shift your head’s gears into overdrive. The game is afoot, and it is something to be excited about!
The story is compact, and even with the two mysteries surrounding Enola– her mother’s disappearance and the threat to the young noble’s life– it didn’t end up too confusing. And when the answers to both mysteries begin to unfold, the powerful message of the film becomes clearer– a world that dictates and curtails the role of women, is a world that needs changing.
To sum it all up, the cast’s performance, the story, the underlying message, and the overall execution– like a string of clues leading to the truth of the case, it all fits together in Enola Holmes.
My Rating
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Enola Holmes streams on Netflix this September 23.
