Enola Holmes

 Enola Holmes is a 2020 mystery film starring Millie Bobby Brown as the title character, the teenage sister of the already famous Victorian-era detective Sherlock Holmes. The film is directed by Harry Bradbeer from a screenplay by Jack Thorne that adapts the first novel in The Enola Holmes Mysteries series by Nancy Springer. 

In the film, Enola travels to London to find her missing mother but ends up on a thrilling adventure, pairing up with a runaway lord as they attempt to solve a mystery that threatens the entire country. In addition to Brown, the film also stars Sam Claflin, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Filming began in July 2019. Originally planned for a theatrical release by Warner Bros. Pictures, the distribution rights to the film were picked up by Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enola Holmes was released on September 23, 2020. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised Brown's performance. It became one of the most-watched original Netflix film releases, with an estimated 76 million households watching the film over its first four weeks. A sequel, Enola Holmes 2, was released on Netflix on November 4, 2022.

TRAILER

PLOT

Enola Holmes is the youngest sibling in the Holmes family. She is extremely intelligent, observant, and insightful, defying the social norms for women of the time. Her mother Eudoria has taught her everything from chess to jujitsu and encouraged her to be strong-willed and independent.

On her sixteenth birthday, Enola wakes to find that her mother has disappeared, leaving behind only some gifts. A week later, she meets her brothers Mycroft and Sherlock. Sherlock finds her intelligent, whereas Mycroft finds her troublesome, and as her legal guardian, intends to send her away to a finishing school run by Miss Harrison.

The flower cards left by her mother reveal secret messages and lead to hidden money, which Enola uses to escape disguised as a boy. On the train, she finds the young Viscount Tewkesbury hidden in a travel bag. She thinks he is a nincompoop, but warns him that a man in a brown bowler hat (named Linthorn) is on the train searching for him. Linthorn finds and tries to kill Tewkesbury, who escapes with Enola by jumping off the train. Tewkesbury forages for edible plants and fungi, and the two return to London and part ways.

Disguised as a proper Victorian lady, Enola continues to trace Eudoria, leaving cryptic messages in the newspaper personal advertisements. Enola discovers pamphlets and a safehouse containing explosives, and learns that Eudoria is part of a radical group of suffragettes. She is attacked by Linthorn, who interrogates her about Tewkesbury. She fights back, ignites the explosives in the safehouse and escapes.

Enola decides to find Tewkesbury again, to save him from Linthorn. She visits the Tewkesbury estate to learn more, meeting Tewkesbury's grandmother the Dowager. Meanwhile, Mycroft has Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard search for Enola.

Enola finds Tewkesbury selling flowers in Covent Garden and warns him of Linthorn. Taking him to her lodgings, she is caught by Lestrade and imprisoned in Miss Harrison's finishing school by Mycroft. Sherlock visits her and admits he is impressed by her detective work. Tewkesbury sneaks into the school, and they escape together, stealing Miss Harrison's motor car. Enola decides they must go to Basilwether Hall and face Tewkesbury's uncle, who she has deduced was trying to kill him.

The estate is seemingly deserted, but Linthorn ambushes them. Enola trips him using jujitsu, causing a fatal head injury. Tewkesbury's grandmother is revealed as Linthorn's contractor. As a staunch traditionalist, she did not want him to take his father's place in the House of Lords and vote for the Reform Bill. She shoots Tewkesbury, but he survives, having hidden a plate of armor under his clothes. Sherlock arrives at Scotland Yard where Lestrade informs him of Enola's actions as they plan to have the Dowager arrested.

Enola shares a tearful goodbye with Tewkesbury. She eavesdrops on a meeting between Sherlock and Mycroft, where Sherlock suggests becoming her guardian. Upon returning to her lodgings, Enola finds Eudoria waiting there. She explains why she had to leave, and why she must leave again, but she is impressed by what Enola has become. Enola has found her purpose—she is a detective and a finder of lost souls.

Cast

• Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes, the youngest sibling in the famous Holmes family. Enola occasionally breaks the fourth wall to explain things to the viewers.
• Sofia Stavrinou portrays a younger Enola.
• Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, the second-oldest of the Holmes siblings; a renowned private detective.
• Sam Claflin as Mycroft Holmes, the oldest of the Holmes siblings; a government employee and Enola's legal guardian.
• Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes, the matriarch of the Holmes family.
• Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury, a future viscount.
• Burn Gorman as Linthorn, a man who targets Tewkesbury and Enola
• Adeel Akhtar as Lestrade, an associate of Sherlock Holmes who works at Scotland Yard.
• Susie Wokoma as Edith, a friend of Eudoria and suffragettes, who runs a secret martial arts class
• Hattie Morahan as Lady Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury's mother
• David Bamber as Sir Whimbrel Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury's uncle
• Frances de la Tour as The Dowager, Tewkesbury's grandmother
• Claire Rushbrook as Mrs. Lane, the Holmes family housekeeper
• Fiona Shaw as Miss Harrison, the stern head of a finishing school
• Ellie Haddington as Miss Gregory

RATING: 10 STARS