Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) is the (by quite a margin) younger sister of Mycroft (Sam Claflin) and Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill), who has been brought up by their mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) in the decaying family mansion as a fiercely independent woman. And then, on Enola's 16th birthday, Eudoria disappears into thin air, leaving her sons to take care of her daughter. Now Mycroft is quick to have her deported to a boarding school, but before he can do so, Enola has found the money her mother has left her and taken a train to London - though not without obscuring her tracks enough for not even Sherlock being able to put his finger on where to find her. On the train, Enola meets a young aristocrat, Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) on the run from his family - and to both their shock and surprise, the family seems to have sent a killer (Burn Gorman) after him. Enola helps Tewkesbury get off the moving train and thus shake the killer, and somehow the two hitchhike their way to London, where they part ways, and Enola makes some investigations regarding her mother - and finds out she might be the member of some terrorist organisation. But then she crosses paths with the killer again and only narrowly escapes him, which is when she realizes that Tewkesbury is still in mortal danger, and she decides to put her own investigations regarding her mother on the backburner to help Tewkesbury. And via an incognito visit at Tewkesbury mansion posing as Sherlock Holmes' assistant, she manages to deduce his whereabouts, manages to track him down - but ultimately they have a run-in with Sherlock's sometimes partner, sometimes foil Inspector Lestrade (Adeel Akhtar), and in order to facilitate Tewkesbury's escape, Enola lets herself be captured and thrown into the boarding school Mycroft has appointed for her. However, Tewkesbury turns out to be one to return the favour, as he breaks her free from the place. Eventually they find out why Tewkesbury is on his own family's hitlist, and it goes into high politics as by law Tewkesbury can ask to be appointed to the House of Lords - but still, who in the family has ordered the hit, and how to survive finding this out ...

Now I wouldn't call Enola Holmes anything like a masterpiece of a milestone movie, but for a film aimed primarily at the YA audience, it's a delightfully light-footed mystery that doesn't talk down to its audience but injects humour into its story that moves at a steady pace with plenty of action setpieces but no soulless spectacle, supplemented by some relatable characters and sharp dialogue. And Millie Bobby Brown does a great job carrying the film, with just the right balance of daring and irony.

As for recent Superman Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes - an odd choice for the role for sure, as his looks are just too dashing and daring and handsome to be a good Holmes, and he's filmed that way, too, but his performance is decent, and while he might not fit the role as such, he fits it in the context of the movie.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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