Enola Holmes – 3 ½ / 5 stars

Sometimes you must dangle your feet in the water in order to attract the sharks

On her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) wakes up to find her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) missing. She is then put into the care of her brothers Mycroft (Sam Claflin) and Sherlock (Henry Cavil), who want her to go to school to become a proper young lady. Instead, she runs away to solve the case of her missing mother and crosses paths with the runaway lord, Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), where she discovers a plot against his life.

I thought Enola Holmes was a cute family-friendly movie. It had a great cast, all of whom performed their roles well, but the overall story was just OK. It was nice to see Millie Bobby Brown in a new role outside of Stranger Things and how much more she can do as an actress. I thought she did a great job in her portrayal of Enola and actually carried the film by keeping it interesting. I also enjoyed seeing Henry Cavil as Sherlock, although he didn’t seem awkward or quirky at all, as Sherlock is often portrayed.

His role seemed more for drawing in viewers, but I’m totally fine with it because it turned out well. And, I know this movie was about Enola, but it would’ve been nice if Sherlock had a bigger role because I really enjoyed the scenes with the two of them together.

For me, the movie started off slowly but got better as it progressed. The way the story was told was through a series of flashbacks and according to steps in Enola’s plan. Many times, she would break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. This seemed alright for the most part, but at times, forced and unnecessary. To get a good feeling for what I’m talking about, check out the trailer here.

Like I mentioned earlier, the story was nothing spectacular. There was an unexpected twist at the end, as with most mystery movies, but this one seemed intentionally unpredictable. Other than that, the movie was entertaining and enjoyable. I’d rate it 3 ½ / 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun family-friendly movie that’s new and available to stream on Netflix.