Overview
While searching for her missing mother, intrepid teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outsmart big brother Sherlock and help a runaway lord.
I wasn’t aware of the book series by Nancy Springer, but am now intrigued to check them out thanks to the joy of this film.
Enola is the youngest sibling in the Holmes family. Raised to be free spirited, strong willed, and boundary pushing by her mother Eudoria, she is intelligent, insightful, and trained in strategy and martial arts. However, on her 16th birthday she awakens to find her mother vanished, leaving behind some mysterious gifts. Her brothers arrive and Mycroft immediately wants Enola put into a finishing school – distressed at the lack of formal education, and the living conditions of the old estate. Sherlock, however, seems more intrigued by the girl. Enola flees and sets off following the cryptic clues her mother left to track her down – along the way encountering the young Viscount Tewksbury who, it appears, has a peril of his own going on.
Thrills, adventure, mystery all present, and the film is a family friendly joy to watch.
Millie Bobby Brown, who has never had much chance to really stretch her skills to date, is absolutely glorious here. Her comic timing balanced well with her dramatical leanings, and the 4th wall breaking moments work largely due to her ability to make them seem fluid and natural. Cavill offers a great interpretation of Holmes – eyes always taking in details, as he tries to decipher the world around him, but with a touch of heart to him – and leaves you wanting more tales of this version.
As a start to a potential franchise, it doesn’t feel like it suffers, and also doesn’t feel like it is deliberately setting up a franchise- working as a perfectly enjoyable standalone movie.