Enola Holmes

Getting to see a new movie in a time of pandemic has been a mixed bag. The last time  the fam and I ventured forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude to see a movie in a theater, was in March to see Onward.

With most theaters closed due to lockdowns, a lot of new movies looking for their big debut on the big screen 

have been circling in a holding pattern. 

Wonder Woman 1984 will finally touch down in December on HBO Max. Guess I may be springing for HBO Max after all. 

Which brings us to the movie for today's post: Enola Holmes. 

Enola Holmes was originally planned for a theatrical release by Warner Bros. Pictures. Instead, the film was sold to Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enola Holmes made it's Netflix debut on September 23, 2020. We finally watched it this past weekend. 

Getting all of us together to watch Enola Holmeswas a tougher sale than I thought it would be. 

The movie stars Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things. We all like Stranger Things and we like Millie's character, Eleven. 

The movie is set in the universe of Sherlock Holmes. The family followed Steven Moffat's Sherlock. 

Finally, 2 months after it's release, we sat down to watch 

Enola Holmes. 

Enola Holmes is the younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. Living alone with her mother Eudoria for 16 years, Enola has received a most unique education, from chess to jujitsu, for a young woman living in the 19th century. Eudoria encourages her to be a strong, independent thinking young woman.

Then on the occasion of Enola's 16th birthday, Eudoria vanishes.  

Enola's brothers arrive. Sherlock is a bit bemused by Enola's intelligence and non conformity but Mycroft is aghast. It's as if he's found Enola foraging in the wood dressed in wolf skins or something. She's not wearing gloves or a hat? Really! 

Mycroft is determined to send her to stern Miss Harrison's finishing school for girls to get Enola all fixed up to be a proper lady.

Enola likes herself just fine and has no intentions to attending Miss Harrison's finishing school for girls. Disguising herself as a boy, Enola hops a train to London on a mission to find her missing mother.  

On the train, Enola encounters the the young Viscount Tewkesbury who is seeking to escape his family and an unwanted destiny set forth by others. Enola wants nothing to do with Tewkesbury but her mission to find Eudoria keeps her crossing paths with the Viscount.  

Sherlock Holmes is searching for Eudoria and Enola. His search for this missing mother consistently finds the master detective several steps behind his sister. 

It seems Eudoria is involved with a radical suffragette movement that is prepared to engage in violence as needed to further a reform agenda in Parliament.  

Meanwhile, those seeking Viscount Tewkesbury intend to do him harm to keep him from assuming his deceased father's seat as a Lord in Parliament where Tewkesbury intends to vote in favor of reform.  

With help from Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft is able to locate and capture Enola where she is sent off to Miss Harrison's finishing school for girls which is like some kind of Handmaid's Tale hellscape. However, Tewkesbury is able to affect Enola's escape from Miss Harrison.

In turn, Enola cracks the case of what's going on in 

Tewkesbury's family that has put her friend's life in danger. 

In the end, Sherlock Holmes cracks the case of what's going on in Tewkesbury's family only to find his sister has beaten him to the punch and already delivered the guilty party to Scotland Yard for arrest. 

Enola continues to elude Sherlock and Mycroft. 

Enola Holmes is a fun movie that plays with the conventions of a Sherlock Holmes mystery in a very enjoyable way. 

Enola herself is a fascinating character. Like her detective brother, Enola possesses a keen intellect and impressive talents but also lacks certain social skills, making her a protagonist that is both formidable and flawed. 

Millie Bobby Brown obviously is having a lot of fun as Enola, employing a rapier sharp wit and a fast moving intelligence. The physicality of the role is impressive with Enola getting into fights, running everywhere and constantly changing up her look as a stylish lady of a society, a widow in mourning and several turns as a boy. 

Enola pierces the fourth wall to talk to the audience as she spins out her lightning fast thought processes.  Enola thinks so fast, even she can't keep up. 

"On to stage 5 of my plan. Or is it 4? 6 maybe? I've lost track!"

The visuals get in the act with title cards flickering in black and white as if from a 1920's silent movie. And Terry Gilliam-eque animations are also employed. 

Henry Cavill is on hand as Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps it's his time as Superman that's influencing my thinking but I found it a bit hard to accept Cavill as the usually eccentric Sherlock. Cavill's take on Sherlock Holmes is a bit too normal.  

Knowing Fiona Shaw from Killing Eve, I felt she was perfectly cast as the the stern, judgemental Miss Harrison.  

While there is some intent for Enola Holmes to serve as launching pad for a possible franchise for Millie Bobby Brown, the movie itself is self contained with a beginning, middle and end. 

Still, I hope there is an opportunity for Millie to return as Enola in another adventure soon.