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On paper, Enola Holmes and its sequel Enola Holmes 2 are basically everything that will attract a YA publisher. It’s based on established intellectual property, it has a strong female lead with autonomy, it has interesting romantic subplots, and it is a period piece, set in the past in England. Netflix opting to adapt it for screen with some of the biggest names from their other properties (Henry Cavill from The Witcher and Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things) seems like a no-brainer, and the resulting in a perfectly watchable family mystery movie.
Enola Holmes 2 (which a sequel that is numbered without a subtitle is a rarity in the modern era) follows the titular Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) as she sets out on her own and opens her own detective agency like her brother Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) she is hired by a young girl (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss) who’s sister went missing and is wrapped into an interwoven story about corruption and big business.
As a mystery, the movie works very well because neither Enola nor Sherlock is ever behind what the viewer knows. Take into consideration The Batman from earlier this year where multiple times throughout the movie, the audience has to wait for Gordon and Batman to catch up to what the audience knows (either through deduction or through exposition the two weren’t present for) and it just slows down a mystery. Even if it takes leaps in logic or it takes a character solving something without fully explaining it to the audience, both Enola and Sherlock are always one step ahead of the viewer.
While Sherlock does have an active role in the story and does have a mystery of his own that is tied to the mystery that Enola is trying to unravel, the two mysteries are portrayed in a way that neither is more important than the other and Sherlock dealing with his quest never supersedes Enola dealing with hers. Not only that but Enola’s mystery does not overtake Sherlock’s, leaving two equally important quests that are inextricably tied together.
If Enola Holmes 2 has a weakness, its that the romantic subplot between Enola and Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) is not developed enough and kind of falls flat. Partridge and Brown also do not have the chemistry to carry this relationship, however this is relegated to a few selected scenes and therefore does not grind the plot to a halt too many times.
Enola Holmes 2 is a surprisingly strong movie for what seems like a very niche pitch. The majority of the cast is likable and the twists in the movie do land well. It is an excellent entry for anyone looking for an entertaining movie to kill two hours.
Final Rating: 8.5/10
