Today begins October, almost 7 months deep into quarantine, and Netflix is still pumping out content for the masses. I’m scared for the day they realize all shot and edited footage has been released and we have a break from Netflix Original content. But let’s be real, Netflix probably has an underground archive of “To Be Released” footage. One of the newest Netflix Originals caught my eye, the 4th wall-breaking Enola Holmes (2020), starring Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things). The actress is continuing to gain momentum with her career, Stranger Things has been renewed for a fourth season, and this movie propels her into an even stronger leading role. The movie casts Millie as the younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, played by Henry Cavil (Superman, The Witcher) and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games series, Love Wedding Repeat), with a personal favorite Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter, everything Tim Burton) as their eccentric suffragette mother, Eudonia Holmes.
We meet Enola mid bicycle ride, on her way to meet her brothers at the train station who have come to help her find her mother, gone missing on Enola’s 16th birthday days earlier. The sudden disappearance eats at Enola while her estranged older brothers contemplate what to do with her. Early on Mycroft is established early on to be the very stereotype of misogynistic British aristocratic “gentleman”, determined to send his sister to a repressive finishing school with an abusive headmister. He is also seen speaking out against the Female voter reform bill that sets the suffragette movement in the background of the movie, securing his place as one of the main antagonists. Sherlock is seen with his typical aloof intellectual demeanor. However Henry Cavill portrays a calmer, more even tempered Sherlock than in past depictions from Benedict Cumberbatch or Robert Downey Jr, the steady hand next to Mycroft’s reactive and emotionally charged outbursts. Even with a famous detective as a brother Enola decides to run away, risking the wrath of Mycroft in particular, to search for her mother. Instead she finds an adventure far larger, and more dangerous, than she ever could have imagined.
One of the most refreshing elements was the use of 4th wall breaking, with Enola delivering key quips and remarks to us the viewer. Asking rhetorical questions in dire moments, such as her “Well, do you have a plan?” right before a daring escape attempt from the odious finishing school. It worked mostly because MIllie Bobby Brown is just so charmingly British that she pulled it off. While the movie does fall into some tropes like a budding romance, various disguises (classic Sherlock move there Enola, I see you), snappy combat scenes, and some intelligent connections, it never quite lived up to the intricate mysterious riddles of past rendentions.
The film relies more on the heart, the relationship of Enola and her mother, and the ways in which Eudoria was her daughter’s role model, teacher, and best friend. Helena Bonham Carter didn’t have a lot of screen time, however the flashes of memory that Enola has while on her coming of age quest feature her mother and the various like lessons she instilled. The movie isn’t perfect, but this relationship between mother and daughter is worth a watch. As Enola ventures into the real world for the first time, she discovers the truth of her mom’s wisdom, and insights into her mother that rock her world. It was relatable as I thought of my own relationship with my mother, and the ways as I get older that I really feel myself relying on what she taught me. I’ve also gotten to know her better as I’ve gotten older, and learned things about her that helped me see her as a person, as Enola comes to realize her mother is so much more than her partner in crime. She discovers the power of becoming your own person, utilizing your strengths, and crafting your own future.
As I said previously, the film does have flaws. I’m not quite certain it would pass the Bechdel test, although there are several strong female women, they often are talking about male characters. Secondly, its use of the suffragette movement to fuel the mystery falls a little flat once the plot has been revealed, with a slightly annoying red herring. That falls to the source material at the end of the day, and since it is a YA series I understand the simplification of historical facts for an entertaining movie. However, the script certainly could have added some direct connections to historical figures in order to strengthen the plot point, and discuss specifics of what was happening in the country and the importance of the right to vote – something that is not directly addressed is why women are fighting for the right to vote, but the vague sense of un-named feminism lurks in the shadows of the 2 hour feature film.
If you are looking for a cute, moderately funny, possibly tear inducing movie, I’d recommend Enola Holmes. If you liked Stranger Things and the eye candy of Henry Cavill and/or Sam Clafin, you’ll enjoy watching them pretend to be siblings more or less convincingly, along with some beautiful shots of English countryside. If you enjoyed the Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock Holmes for the whip smart analysis, jokes, and homoerotic undertones, then this may not be for you, but don’t discount it if you feel like taking a risk. If anything this can be a 2 hour break during which you can procrastinate homework even longer, so open up your Netflix and let the movie -automatically- play.