New Release Review - Enola Holmes

The mysteries of Baker Street have gone all over the place ever since Arthur Conan Doyle started writing about two guys who went around solving mysteries together. Now, thanks to a bunch of novels by Nancy Springer, we finally get to see a new face of the Holmes on our screens. And it sure is worth the change.

Enola Holmes stars Millie Bobby Brown as the eponymous sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, who has lived alone with her mother in their old country house all of her life. There, her mother taught her all the skills that would be frowned upon by typical Victorian society, such as free-thinking and jiu-jitsu. But after her mother disappears, Enola decides to ride off to London to try and find her, uncovering a secret conspiracy of government along the way.

In this decade, we’ve had Sherlock Gnomes (once residing on the IMDb Bottom 100), Holmes and Watson (one of the worst comedies ever made) and Guy Ritchie’s A Game of Shadows, which isn’t bad per se, but not really that good either.

So it’s a relief to see a movie that actually brings the Sherlock mythos and traits to the screen in a way which both respects the story and builds something new out of it.

Millie Bobby Brown is perfectly cast in the lead role of Enola. She’s charismatic, fun to watch and energetic, but she also sells really well the cleverness and deductive ability of a member of the Holmes family. Enola may not have the bizarre quirks of her brother Sherlock, but Brown’s physical and vocal cadence are easily just as entertaining to watch.

Sherlock himself is also in this movie, portrayed by Henry Cavill, as well as his dear misanthropic brother Mycroft, played by Sam Claflin. The two of them (mainly Cavill) are well cast and have good believable chemistry with Brown, as does Helena Bonham Carter as their mother. I will personally admit, I was kind of disappointed by the fact that there was no Watson in the movie, but that’s not really a criticism, that’s just a personal itch.

This movie is also excellently directed, especially compared to the last movie I reviewed on this blog (The Devil All The Time). Emmy-winner Harry Bradbeer comes to us from Fleabag and Killing Eve, and directs a beautifully shot, energetic movie with a good variety of locations and colour schemes. His approach to action is not overcut, with some good choreography and notably better visual effects that in most Netflix originals. And thankfully, his approach to action is more brutal than I initially imagined this movie to be, which I am grateful for as it does make the stakes a bit more tense.

Bradbeer also directs his technical elements really well. Giles Nuttgens’s cinematography is gorgeous to look at (I’m a sucker for English countryside’s, sue me) and not overly reliant on CGI except for a couple of egregious shots near the end. The production design is always lively and colourful, as well as the costumes and wigs everyone expects.

But the best part of all the technical bits is Daniel Pemberton’s score. It perfectly captures Enola as a character – spirited, diverse, joyful and ready to roll. It’s one of the better scores I’ve heard in a while.

If I were to talk flaws with this movie, it would mainly be with the script. Now the dialogue is well done and witty, but the two central mysteries of the movie – Enola’s mother and a government conspiracy – aren’t always particularly interesting. The latter conspiracy mystery is introduced fairly late in the movie and isn’t that engaging, partially because there isn’t that much problem solving and cleverness to it, and the villains are Steppenwolf-levels of thin.

The movie also has a ton of moments where Enola breaks the 4th wall to talk directly to the audience. These 4th-wall breaks are definitely not as clever as the movie thinks they are, and occasionally they become grating. They don’t break the movie, but they’re not exactly great, either.

All in all, I highly enjoyed this movie. As a possible franchise starter, it’s got great style and energy to launch forth, and it’s a really good introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes for more people to dive into.

I’m going to give Enola Holmes an A-.

Have you seen Enola Holmes? If so, what did you think of it? Leave your answers in the comments below.