ENOLA HOLMES | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Harry Bradbeer (12, 123 mins)
Bright and breezy franchise starter for Netflix that wears its winning feminism on its sleeve and gives Millie Bobby Brown a chance to move beyond Stranger Things. Brown is the engaging centre, playing the titular younger sister to Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes in this opening adaptation of Nancy Springer’s series of books.
Brought up by Helena Bonham Carter’s Eudoria, Enola is a force of nature – freed from learning embroidery and ‘womanly’ pursuits, she is skilled in science, wordgames and jujitsu. Her far from conventional childhood has prepared her for much, but not the big city. When her mother disappears, she leaves a series of clues for her daughter, which leads to some potentially destructive suffragette activity. Mycroft Holmes, a conniving old-fashioned moralist played with relish by Sam Claflin, and Sherlock, the square jawed and stoic Henry Cavill, are her guides. Claflin is determined to make Enola a woman of her times – married, meek and enlisted in Fiona Shaw’s finishing school – while Cavill encourages her to follow her own path and use her detective smarts.
Along the way, Enola encounters the young Marquess of Tewkesbury (a callow Louis Partridge) who has a killer on his trail, the reliably scary-faced Burn Gorman. They go on the run together, with Enola uncovering the mystery behind the attempted killing of Tewkesbury and his duplicitous family. It all dovetails quite neatly in Jack Thorne’s screenplay and under Harry Bradbeer’s direction. Bradbeer was also the director of Fleabag, and Brown, like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, breaks the fourth wall throughout, including us on her journey. She makes a thoroughly likeable and engaging heroine, both vulnerable and capable in equal measure, and the supporting cast also seem to be enjoying themselves.
There’s plenty of CGI augmentation and zippy narrative devices throughout recreating Holmes’ London but they don’t intrude too much. With another five books left in the series, this pleasingly frothy concoction has plenty of room for sequels and is an excellent vehicle for star and producer Millie Bobby Brown.
words KEIRON SELF
Available on Netflix now