I’m a twenty-year-old, die-hard kids movie fan. When I found out my boyfriend, and his younger siblings (ages ten and eight) haven’t seen pretty much any of the films that were fundamental to my childhood, I was shocked! I made it my mission to introduce his younger brother and sister to all the classic movies that shaped my childhood. I started recommending all the films I loved to watch growing up: Sky High, Zoom, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Treasure Planet, The Lion King, etc. I suggested anything and everything I could think of, trying to have a balance of movies that would appeal to ten-year-old boys and eight-year-old girls. I shared my Disney+ password with his family and made them their own profile so they could watch movies I loved even when I wasn’t there, and at first, it was great! Sky High in particular was a big hit, especially with my boyfriend’s little sister, which was a pleasant surprise. But then one day I was talking with my boyfriend’s mom, and she said something that made me stop and think.
We weren’t talking about movies, per se. I think we got onto the topic because I mentioned how much I loved Barbies growing up. My boyfriend’s mom said she had always hated Barbie, and didn’t want her daughter to internalize all the unhealthy stereotypes Barbie represented about female roles, beauty standards, etc. I mentioned how Barbie is actually super-inclusive now, and you could argue that she was always pretty progressive, since she had a lot of jobs that were “off-limits” to women for a long time, like a pilot or a doctor. His mom said that might be the case, but she just remembered all the things she saw growing up that told her what she could and couldn’t be, and that she didn’t want to introduce any of that to her daughter. She didn’t want her daughter internalizing anything that told her she had to fit into a box of some kind.
This got me thinking; was that why the kids hadn’t seen a lot of the movies I had watched growing up? I thought about all the films I had been recommending, and while I didn’t think I had pushed anything that was particularly regressive, I was suddenly really aware of the fact that the movies I chose to recommend were going to shape the minds of two kids. I got a lot more careful about what I suggested, staying away from “classic” Disney and trying to find films that had male and female leads so that both of my boyfriend’s siblings could see themselves in positive roles in the movies we were watching together.
That leads me to last week: I was procrastinating doing schoolwork, as one does, and I decided to put on Netflix’s new movie, Enola Holmes. My expectations were low; all I really wanted was a couple of hours of mindless entertainment and background noise while I scrolled through my phone and put off working on a paper. Much to my surprise, I was sucked into the movie almost immediately. Even more surprising, I loved it!
Enola Holmes is very much a kid’s movie, and it knows it. Our main character, Enola, (a sixteen-year-old girl played by an actual sixteen-year-old, Milly Bobby Brown) frequently breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience and tell us her story, which reminds us that while she is extraordinary, she is also a kid.
That being said, the movie is not just for kids: it deals with complex themes of family, responsibility, gender roles and the rights of women and minorities in 1900 England. It deftly engages with these notions while still being fun and entertaining, making this a film that is easily watchable for all ages.
With Enola as our main character, we get to watch a young, brilliant girl work to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance, handling the complex politics of 1900 England while challenging them at every turn (all while deftly out-maneuvering one of the world’s greatest detectives, her older brother. Take that, Benadryl Cabbagepatch!). Enola is smart, strong and capable, while still being a child who marvels in her freedom and the opportunity to do what she loves.
She is the perfect role model for young girls (and twenty-year-old women who should be out seizing the day instead of procrastinating their schoolwork). Not only is she clever and resourceful, but she is also kind and caring. Through her, young girls can not only see themselves as the world’s greatest detective but can also learn the importance of doing what’s right; that caring for other people is not a weakness and that everyone can change the world.
Her reluctant but annoyingly charming companion, the Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether, is also an excellent role model for young boys. Tewkesbury (played by seventeen-year-old Louis Partridge), is a spoiled Lord who requires saving quite often. He has a love for flowers and plants and runs away from home to pursue a simple life free of responsibility. However, he is not presented as being weak, but rather is Enola’s equal. He never resents her for her strength or her brains; instead, he works to show her the beauty of his interests and to support her role as a fighter and protector of lost boys.
Tewkesbury is an awesome representation of healthy masculinity, and the friendship between him and Enola is a fantastic and progressive representation of friendship in which a boy and girl respect each other’s strengths and work to protect one another, rather than competing over who gets to save the other the most (a competition which Enola would certainly win).
The film also engages with politics of class and race, the central mystery revolving around the fight for all men’s right to vote. Enola’s mother is a suffragist, Tewkesbury represents the progressive shift away from upper-class values and Sherlock gets a strong talking to from an exceptionally badass Black female martial artist who tells him that he only remains aloof from politics because he has the privilege to do so: he lives in a world that works to serve him, but many people do not, including his sister Enola.
On that topic, while this movie exists within the Sherlock Holmes realm, it does not fall into any of the conventions of modern Sherlock adaptations: Sherlock is compassionate towards his sister, respectful of women, isn’t a perfect omnipotent psychic-detective who takes all the fun out of things and actually smiles and laughs! In all seriousness, while Henry Cavill doesn’t necessarily look like Sherlock is supposed to look, the softness this adaptation adds to his character only strengthens the film’s messages of healthy masculinity and familial relationships and is a version of the character I would love to see again (as Enola’s sidekick. We don’t need more Sherlock adaptations).
I have to add, because I find it hilarious, that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate, which owns the rights to some Sherlock content that isn’t public domain, is actually suing Netflix over Enola Holmes’ representation of Sherlock. They’re arguing that the only times Sherlock showed compassion and emotion for his family were in a small number of books that are still owned by the estate, meaning Netflix had no right to use that version of the character. If that cracks you up as much as it does me, you can read more about it here: Conan Doyle estate sues Netflix for giving Sherlock Holmes too many feelings.
I could keep writing about this movie for thousands of more words, but I’ll close with this: if you’re looking for an entertaining and exciting mystery movie for kids, Enola Holmes is it. If you’re looking for something more, for a movie that works to empower young girls, teach boys that it’s okay to be soft and tell everyone that it’s in your power to fight for what you believe in, even better.
Basically, watch Enola Holmes. You won’t regret it.