Directed by Philip Barantini | Written by Jack Thorne, based on the Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer | 105 min | ▲▲1/2 | Netflix
Millie Bobby Brown once again pulls on the corset of a character that, had these movies opened in theatres, might be a genuine cultural icon three pictures in.
As it is they live only on Netflix while the streaming service doesn’t do much to market them. More’s the shame as they’ve managed to maintain a regular escapist charm from original to sequel, and once again — despite a certain enshittification that often comes with diminishing returns — Enola continues to be a good time.
If you’re just catching up to her adventures now, you need know is this: She’s the younger sister of famed detective Sherlock Holmes (here played by a continuously miscast Henry Cavill) invented by novelist Nancy Springer for her series of books. They remain unread by me, but these cheerful mysteries are laden with feminist subtext (and sometimes text) as the teen sleuth shakes off Victorian chauvinism and carves her own path, all while inviting the audience in through frequent fourth-wall breaking asides and voice overs.
The director of the first two films, Harry Bradbeer, was a veteran of the series Fleabag and Killing Eve, making him perfect for this project, but he’s absent here. Barantini, who worked on Adolescence, aims to carry on the frenetic animated inserts and rapid-fire editing, but the scripting and action sequences aren’t quite up to snuff this time out.
We arrive on Malta, where Enola is about to be married to Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), whose relentless, well-scrubbed goodness becomes less interesting with every film. Maybe that’s why she’s got real doubts about the union. Dr Watson (Himesh Patel) shows up to say Sherlock’s been kidnapped, giving Enola a genuine distraction from those icky nuptials before Tewkesbury’s mother (Hattie Morahan) is also carted off. Naturally, this somehow involves Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter, always welcome), Enola’s criminal mother. Also on board this adventure is another figure from the Holmes’ past.
If you’re like me, you might find yourself wondering why Enola does certain things at certain times, how the disappearance of her brother isn’t really much of a mystery, and why convenience plays a much larger role in the story than it should. But the yarn gets a more compelling when the responsibility of the Crown in all of this is revealed, and the anti-colonial subtext (and sometimes text) that fuels the antagonist’s motivations. That and the Maltese locations bring a lot of positive production value.
In the end, all the mush with Tewkesbury and Enola’s identity issues with marriage are the picture’s most tiresome elements — and let’s go ahead and forget any and all historical accuracy with this fantasy. This while Barantini doesn’t know when to quit it with his actors (not just Brown) mugging into the camera lens.
And yet there’s still fun to be had with Enola Holmes, and Millie Bobby Brown is winning. Just not as much fun or as winning as the previous instalments.
