Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham Carter

Directed By: Harry Bradbeer

If you wish to go by some reviews, this movie is worth a passable watch or even a skip. But if you go by the sometimes more discerning masses, this is not a movie you should miss. As Enola Holmes herself so aptly remembers in her mother’s words, ‘Try to be excited, not disappointed, at the possibilities of something new’.

Watched on the backdrop of a rainy September evening, the same old mystery of BMC and the city’s water logged streets playing on the outside; the mystery of a young woman and her search for herself – made for a fun viewing indoors. As kids, many of us have read series of hardcovers and paperbacks based on young women of strength and character. The kind that made me at least, wish to be on a heath in Britain embroiled in some adventure. Enola Holmes brought back a flood, albeit a pleasant one, that hints that perhaps the world needs reminding and changing.

Her filial relationships leave a lot to be desired, be it with the very modern Victorian woman that is her mother Eudoria Holmes or her brothers the not-so-Conan-Doyle Sherlock Holmes and of course the very ‘Backpfeifengesicht’ Mycroft Holmes. Enola discovers her own strengths and weaknesses through people she meets in her many misadventures with the rather refreshing Lord Viscount Tewksbury, the villainous Linthorn, the soul-crushing Miss Harrison and her finishing school, the very English and Machiavellian grandmother of Tewksbury or the disarming Edith, among others.

All revolve very comfortably in the orbit that is the very determined Enola Holmes’ galaxy. While there may be only a scene or two of Victorian-era type darkness and storytelling, the lightness in the tale never takes away from the subtle feminist backdrop or the ever-present Victorian yet very-much-today male chauvinist undertone. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. It instead shows you a problem and then cracks open a rather “break a few eggs” solution.

The breath-taking views of countryside Britain, the overcrowded murkiness of London city, the back and forth in storytelling that catches us up on the why of the mechanisms of the Enola of now, Enola’s quirky way of turning to camera and involving the audience in her narrative, the well-chosen cast, and a few formulaic tropes, all make for a lively watch and a hope that Millie Bobby Brown, Paige Brown, and Netflix get together to turn more of Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes books into films.

You can share this movie experience with family, friends or catch it by yourself. For, as is oft repeated in the film, even though Enola spelt backwards is ALONE, we need not be lonely; especially with such an enjoyable adventure for company.

My Take: Sometimes what we’re hunting for, is just ourselves.

Can be watched on: Netflix

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Ayesha Dominica

Ayesha Dominica is a fiercely independent writer who has been published regularly since age 13. When she’s not intimidating strangers with her love for polysyllabic words, she works as an artist manager for DJ Russel. She is prone to withdrawal symptoms if distanced from her books or her Funko collection. But you can easily distract her with the colour yellow, anything Doctor Who, and music trivia.