Enola Holmes (film)

Enola Holmes is a 2020 American mystery film based on the first book in the series of the same name by Nancy Springer. The story is about the teenage sister of the already-famous Sherlock Holmes, who goes to London in search of her mother who has disappeared. The film is directed by Harry Bradbeer, from a screenplay by Jack Thorne. Millie Bobby Brown stars as the title character, while also serving as a producer on the film. Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Adeel Akhtar, Fiona Shaw, Frances de la Tour, Louis Partridge, Susie Wokoma and Helena Bonham Carter appear in supporting roles.

Originally planned for a theatrical release by Warner Bros. Pictures, the distribution rights to the film were sold to Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enola Holmes was released on September 23, 2020. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Brown's performance.

Plot

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

On the day of her sixteenth birthday, Enola awakens to find her mother has disappeared, leaving behind only some birthday gifts of stationery. She rushes to the train station to meet her brothers, Mycroft and Sherlock, who fail to recognize her at first, not having seen her in many years. Sherlock finds her to be an intelligent girl, whereas Mycroft finds her troublesome. As her legal guardian, Mycroft intends to send her away to a finishing school run by the stern Miss Harrison. The flowers 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. They jump off the train to escape. Having no food Tewkesbury forages for edible plants. They travel to London, where they part ways.

Disguised as a proper Victorian lady, she continues to trace Eudoria and leaves 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 tortures her for information about Tewkesbury, attempting to drown her. They fight but she is able to ignite the explosives and escape. Enola decides to pause the search for her mother and instead find Tewkesbury again to save him, because he is not capable of defending himself. Enola visits the Tewkesbury estate at Basilwether Hall to learn more. Mycroft has Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard search for Enola.

Enola finds Tewkesbury selling flowers in Covent Garden and warns him of the danger. She helps him escape, but 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. They reach a fork in the road and, rather than returning to London, Enola decides they must go to Basilwether Hall and face his uncle, who she has deduced was trying to kill him. The estate is seemingly deserted, Linthorn ambushes them, firing a shotgun. Enola trips him using a jujitsu move, causing a fatal head injury. Tewkesbury's grandmother is revealed as the real villain; a traditionalist, she did not want him to take his father's place in the House of Lords and vote for the Reform Bill. Sherlock arrives at Scotland Yard, and Lestrade asks him two questions: firstly how he managed to solve the case, and secondly how his sister solved it first.

Enola deciphers a message she finds in the newspaper, but deduces it was not sent by her mother. At the meeting point, Sherlock and Mycroft discuss Enola, and Sherlock suggests he might become her guardian. As they are about to give up and leave Sherlock notices an old toy Enola has left as a clue, and chooses not to look for her. All the while Enola has been watching disguised as a newsboy. Returning to her lodgings, Enola finds her mother waiting. They embrace, and Eudoria explains why she had to leave, and why she must leave again, but she expresses how impressed she is at what Enola has become. Enola has found her freedom and 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. Extremely intelligent, observant and insightful, she defies the social norms for women of the era. Under her mother's tutelage, she has learned everything from chess to jujitsu, and is extensively well-read.
• Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, the second-oldest of the Holmes siblings. A renowned private detective.
• Sam Claflin as Mycroft Holmes, the eldest of the Holmes siblings. He has a well-paid government job and is Enola's legal guardian. Although Mycroft is older than Sherlock, Claflin is three years younger than Cavill.^[1]
• Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes, the matriarch of the Holmes family. Eccentric, free-spirited, and unconventional, Eudoria raises Enola to pursue her own path rather than that laid out for her by others and to redefine what it means to be a woman in society.
• Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury
• Burn Gorman as Linthorn
• Adeel Akhtar as Lestrade
• Susie Wokoma as Edith
• 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
• Ellie Haddington as Miss Gregory