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Millie Bobby Brown has had quite the film career so far. At age 16, she is already the star of the hit TV show “Stranger Things” and has since headlined the blockbuster franchise “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” Now, she can add producer to her list of accomplishments, as she garnered her first credit for her work shaping Netflix’s “Enola Holmes.”

She did an exceptional job making this film. “Enola Holmes” is an enjoyable mystery with a progressive message and a fantastic performance by Brown that leads us throughout the streets of London.

Enola Holmes, having just turned 16, is on her own for the first time. Her mother (Helena Bonham Carter), who has raised her and taught her everything she’s known, has departed – seemingly – without a trace. Meanwhile, her brothers, Mycroft (Sam Clafin) and the famous detective Sherlock (Henry Cavill), return to their countryside home to find their mother. When Mycroft suggests that she go to a boarding school to become a proper woman, Enola decides to take matters into her own hands. She escapes to London and uses the few traces her mother left behind to locate her. Along the way, Enola gets tangled in the disappearance of runaway Viscount Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), a young boy in a powerful position for his age.

Like her famous older brother, Enola is a fantastic sleuth, deducing leads through anagrams and pinpoint memories. Some of these seem a little ridiculous, but again, this is a Sherlock Holmes-based story. And Brown makes these moments feel natural. She’s tasked with carrying the emotional storytelling weight of the film and she does so deftly. Brown makes Enola a confident, cunning and captivating genius of a character, brimming with electricity.

Enola tells much of the story through first-person narration, often looking at the camera to make a revelation. If this seems familiar, well, the film’s director, Harry Bradbeer, also directed a few episodes of a little show called “Fleabag.” The usage of first person here has a mixed effect, with some moments of humor and intrigue and others where the use of first person is annoying and a bit too much. Again, Brown still makes these scenes mostly enjoyable and tolerable.

As far as the rest of the film goes, “Enola Holmes” is a mix of bright optimism and surprisingly dark moments. The film pushes its PG-13 rating to the brink in several effective and surprisingly dark scenes. On the whole, however, “Enola Holmes” is about looking to a brighter future and taking action to make necessary change.

A major issue unfolding in the film is the women’s suffrage movement occurring in England at the turn of the 20th century. The characters are constantly grappling with decisions on whether they should stand by and wait for change or take charge of their own destiny. Such is the main dilemma that Enola deals with upon every scene, and it’s a very topical issue and an important conversation to have.

From a filmmaking perspective, “Enola Holmes” is mostly well made but unspectacular. The action scenes, again led by Brown, are well done and mostly creative. The special effects are nothing miraculous, but they never drag the film down.

Overall, “Enola Holmes” is an enjoyable family film that introduces the Holmes universe to a new generation with a new star. Again, Brown takes the mantle and looks to take the character in a new direction. It is a solid mystery to jump into this fall.

Published on October 5, 2020 at 9:06 pm

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu