4 reasons to watch Enola Holmes with Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There is no serious detective component here. But that doesn't make the picture worse.

The streaming service Netflix has released a new film directed by Harry Bradbear ("Trash", "Killing Eve") and scripted by Jack Thorne ("Dark Materials"), dedicated to the young sister of the famous Sherlock Holmes.

The picture, based on the books of Nancy Springer, turned out to be simple, even naive. But that is what makes it enjoyable to watch. After all, the authors only pretend that they made an "adult" movie. And even then, they do not do it too seriously.

1. It's a dynamic teenage story

Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) grew up under the supervision of a widowed mother (Helena Bonham Carter), who taught her to play tennis, fencing, archery, and other things not very typical for Victorian aristocrats.

On her birthday, the girl discovers that her mother is missing. Brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin) wants to give Enola to the boarding school, but she escapes. In search of her mother, she encounters the young Marquis of Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), who is hiding from his own relatives. And gradually helping a new acquaintance becomes more important for the girl than the original goal.

The mood of the film is set from the very first shots: Enola Holmes rushes on a bicycle and speaks directly to the audience. Here you can feel the approach of Harry Bradbear, who knows how to add dynamics and even interactivity to the plot.

Energy is one of the main advantages of the picture. There are, of course, serious topics here, in particular politics. But most of the time, young Enola is just looking for her mother and helping her friends.

They try to show the heroine as smart as her brothers are. But she is still more impulsive, and her insights are associated with emotion rather than deduction. So "Enola Holmes" is more of a story about adventure, friendship and first love, rather than a detective story.

2. This is not another variation of the stories about Sherlock Holmes

If you remember the film adaptations of the stories about the great detective, you can be horrified by the number of films and TV series that have been released over the past 10 years. From the legendary BBC project with Benedict Cumberbatch to the disastrous comedy Holmes & Watson, which has collected four Golden Raspberries.

Fortunately, Enola Holmes is a different story. Nancy Springer took from the works of Arthur Conan Doyle only the general theme and characters, and the film went even further. Strictly speaking, the heroes could have been called differently, and nothing would have changed.

But this approach frees the painting from any responsibility to the original source. It doesn't even make much sense to talk about the changes in the characters. After all, Conan Doyle never mentioned Enola herself at all.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine that the screen Sherlock Holmes is just the namesake of that same detective or his analogue from another world. And watch the film as something independent.

3. Millie Bobby Brown and other cool actors play here

Everyone knew and fell in love with the young actress thanks to the TV series Stranger Things. But there she had to strictly adhere to the image: Eleven had a hard time learning to show emotions and always remained a little strange.

In Enola Holmes, Millie Bobby Brown had her best. And her heroine came out incredibly charming. She appears to be both an embarrassed girl and a daring kid who fights, takes clothes from the young men she meets, argues endlessly and gets angry. In any way, the actress is equally good.

Strictly speaking, the rest of the stars in the lineup serve only as a background and to attract attention. But each of them copes with their task. Helena Bonham Carter appears in her typical image of an eccentric but loving mother. Sam Claflin as Mycroft is the standard of bombast and conservatism. His hero turned out to be too vile, but the obvious caricature does not allow him to be taken seriously.

Well, Henry Cavill, who played Sherlock, just poses beautifully, smiles and blinks. So-so for a detective, but the great detective has never been shown so aesthetically pleasing.

4. The film easily conveys relevant topics

The writers of Enola Holmes raise some really serious questions. One of the storylines is completely devoted to the movement of suffragettes and even terrorism. Talk about the status of women in Victorian England and the right to vote for all. And the main character learns from her own experience about the cruel order of boarding schools for girls.

These topics are important to this day. But hardly anyone can accuse the film of being too social. Precisely because all this remains the background for the simplest personal story. And surely many viewers will worry more about Enola's relationship with the charming young man than about the results of the vote.

The story only touches on the theme of feminism and equality, but does not contain serious connotations.

Enola Holmes is a light and positive movie to watch over dinner. Without depth and connection with Conan Doyle. But with bright actors and a dynamic plot.