Director: Harry Bradbeer
Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Sam Claflin, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter
Running Time: 123 minutes
Synopsis: It's England in the 1880s, and parliament is debating expansion of voting rights. 16-year-old Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) was raised as an independent thinker by her mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter), after her older brothers Sherlock and Mycroft (Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin) left home. Now Eudoria disappears, and Enola is unwillingly thrust into the care of the traditionalist Mycroft. She runs away and encounters Tewksbury (Louis Partridge), a young aristocrat also running from his family. Using clues left by her mother, Enola has to find Eudoria, help Tewksbury, and evade capture.
What Works Well: The target audience of 12 to 15-year-old girls will enjoy Millie Bobby Brown's spunky performance and the can-do message of girl power. England of the 1880s is recreated with beautiful settings, including the lavish Holmes estate and the muddy bustling chaos of London.
What Does Not Work As Well: As the jumbled and overstuffed action shifts from Eudoria's disappearance to Enola's escape then Tewksbury's barely explained sub-plot, Enola breaks the fourth wall with annoying frequency. Meanwhile, the anachronistic militant feminist message (with a generous side-dish of anti-male contempt) is delivered with sledgehammer subtlety, while the caught-in-the-middle Sherlock Holmes has never been less effective. In the rush to lecture and hector, the script fails to properly discuss neither the politics nor the threat of violence that supposedly propel the plot.
Key Quote:
Tewksbury: I'm a man.
Enola: You're a man when I tell you you're a man.
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