Enola Holmes (2020) Movie Review

Premise: The movie about Enola Holmes (played by Millie Bobby Brown), is a little sister of famous detective Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) And Mycroft Holmes (Sam Claflin), a government official. Enola is an intellectual and independent teenage girl, homeschooled by her mother, Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter). At the time in England, the 1880s, intelligence, martial arts, etc. cool stuff was off-limits for women. After Eudoria went missing, Sherlock and Mycroft step into the house after a long time. While sherlock investigates to find Eudoria, Mycroft is determined to send Enola to a cruel finishing school (for young women aiming to teach to be a proper lady). Enola outsmarts her brother and escapes from home to find her mother in London.

Review: After serving darker, violent films like The devil all the time, I’m thinking of ending things; now Netflix brings some entertaining, colorful movie Enola Jolmes (2020). Millie Brown from Stranger Things (Tv series) here plays a title role, mostly did a decent job in her high energetic character. Even though Helena had so little screentime, I liked her performance more than any of the cast. At first, Henry Cavill seemed a bad choice for Sherlock; somehow, he brings his charisma to the character and justifies it. Sam Claflin’s age doesn’t fit as an elderly brother, but that didn’t stop him from performing great as a strict guardian to Enola.

See how interesting these characters (with some polish) are and premise, but sadly the movie chooses to focus on a sidetracked storyline and needless teenage love story. Breaking the fourth wall for exposition is entertaining to some extent, after overdoing, it gets tiresome. Good points for locations and sets.

“To rush into explanation is always a sign of weaknesses” quote by Agatha Christie.

The Enola Holmes’ script tries to walk on different tracks simultaneously, resulting in all unattached, unnecessary elements, storylines, and characters. The primary sufferer of this choice is a mystery, which is the main genre of this film. I did not feel like I was watching a detective mystery movie at all. As for the characterization, without much to solve and with its silly overdoing cryptic messages, predictable story, with no clear objectives, the characters don’t look brilliant nor interesting for a detective movie.

What worked in the movie is the chemistry between the Sherlock and Enola, detective siblings, and the feminist piece seemed forced but far better than Mulan. Enola Holmes starts exceptionally. Subsequently, with its terrible pacing, it gets flat and flat and in the final act..

Conclusion: A good mystery requires three things plot, plot, and plot that this movie doesn’t have it, so don’t expect to see a detective movie. Overall, Enola Holmes is a pretty average, entertaining, coming of age movie. My rating 6/10.

Director: Harry Bradbeer
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama