Enola Holmes.... what was that?

Let me tell you a story. Back when I was first getting into Sherlock Holmes, before I’d watched Sherlock, before I’d even read all of the stories… I began, mentally, to create a story of my own. It was, in essence, a fan-fiction that I would, and will, never write.

The premise was simple.

Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister. Similarly skilled in deduction, but having to hide her intelligence and her abilities from a world that would not be ready to accept her. The idea fascinated me. Would she be bitter? Would she have to work harder than her brothers? Would her gender be an advantage to her?

Looking back, I actually did this with many of my favourite stories in my young teenager-hood. In stories where I struggled to find a female main character to relate to, I would insert a female one. If anyone ever argues that having a lack of female leads in film and TV (especially in fantasy, sci-fi and action) isn’t harmful, I would point them to this. As a child, I struggled to find characters in my favourite stories to latch on to. I remember asking Judge Bookman if there were any female Jedi (having seen remarkably few on-screen). He pointed out Aayla Secura. Despite the fact that she barely appeared in any of the films I had seen, for years I would have said that she was my favourite jedi.

I think I was desperate to find something to relate to in the media that I enjoyed. Where it didn’t exist, I had to create it myself.

So, all that being said…

Today I am going to watch Enola Holmes. For the first time. I need to see if this film is what the younger version of myself wanted… or not.

I am going in fairly blind. I haven’t watched any reviews, I haven’t even seen the trailer since before it came out…

And hopefully, I will enjoy it.

Bearing in mind that the benchmark here is Eurus Holmes from Sherlock….

Yeah. Probably can’t be worse than that.

So here we go…

Oh wow. Immediately, that music choice is… not what I expected.

We open with a young girl bicycling around the English countryside, her loose hair flying in the wind….

(Seriously, I cycle and have long hair. It may be very aesthetic to leave it untied, but IT IS NEVER WORTH THE HOURS OF DETANGLING THAT FOLLOW. TRUST ME.)

Oh, and then she turns to the camera.

“Where to begin?” she says.

So Enola is narrating this story. And, of course, she begins by taking us back to her one-year-old self. Apparently, it’s vitally important that we know that the name “Enola” was her mother’s choice. Apparently because Enola backwards is “Alone”.

What a nice thing to name your child. I mean, I think it’s meant to be inspirational, you know, “you don’t need anyone else, you’re very independent” kind of thing… but….

Anyway. Weird.

Does this mean that “Sherlock” and “Mycroft” are also “word games”? Or was Enola the only one to get this special treatment?

Kcolrehs and tforcym…….

I can’t believe I actually just did that.

Anyway, Enola’s Dad is dead, her brothers are a lot older than her so left home early, she grew up with her Mum. Is this a deliberate reversal of every Disney princess film ever?

Enola sings the praises of her mother for giving her a well rounded education…. Including indoor archery.

And indoor tennis.

Fun fact, in Tudor times, and earlier form of Tennis was played primarily indoors. In specially built rooms. Rooms without ceramic statues to break in them.

Anyway, I’m sure this whole “Enola is incredibly dependent on her mother” thing won’t lead to any problems later in her life.

Again, so much for “Alone”.

But it seems that Mrs Holmes is busy being part of some sort of secret organisation run by women, presumably planning to rise up against the patriarchy.

Wait… do I need to start keeping a checklist of “things that are eerily similar between Sherlock (the BBC TV series) and Enola Holmes (the Netflix film)”?

Because we’re like, 3 minutes in, and we’re already at two.

Hmm.

Well, guess what happens next? Enola’s mum goes missing. I’m sure that her years of encouraging her daughter to over-rely on her will adequately prepare Enola for this.

Definitely.

And, before Mrs Holmes left, she made up a set of presents for Enola, consisting of…. A stationary set and a book of “the language of flowers”?

Well anyway, let’s not dwell on that… Enola (who was cycling perfectly well previously) falls off her bicycle. Apparently, she’s rushing to catch a train, but still has time to stop and narrate the fact that she’s not very good at cycling. “in case you didn’t already guess”.

Enola is on her way to  “pick up her brothers”. And…

No. She makes sure to tell us what her brothers names are backwards. “perhaps one shouldn’t read too much into the “alone” idea” she tells us.

Well, I mean, we wouldn’t have, if you hadn’t explicitly told us that your mother called you Enola explicitly because it was “alone” backwards.

And so, we meet Sherlock. Enola rattles off a list of his achievements, a nice call-back to the original list John Watson writes to describe Holmes’ talents and failings.

Is Dr Watson in this? I don’t remember seeing him in the trailer I saw…. About a year ago.

I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.

Anyway, Sherlock and Mycroft both walk right past their sister. Because they haven’t met each other in ages.

Great deductive minds at work there.

Mycroft immediately starts criticising Enola for her appearance. Already, I don’t like this version of Mycroft…. Basically because already, he isn’t acting in the way that Mycroft Holmes would react in this situation.

Anyway, Mycroft and Sherlock didn’t actually want Enola, they wanted the family carriage to come and pick them up.

Which… doesn’t exist. So they hire one instead.

Mycroft then goes on to comment about the house being a bit overgrown, messy, and full of sporting equipment.

I mean… fair enough. Still, not very Mycroft-ly.

So, Sherlock and Mycroft go about trying to work out what happened to their mother. We get a small display of deduction, interlaced with Mycroft complaining about his mother’s feminism.

Then he complains about his mother’s frequent requests for money, which, clearly, has not been spent as he intended it to be.

Including, apparently, failing to provide her daughter with a teacher. Because of the whole “we are each other’s only companions” thing she seemed to be setting up.

I mean, are we meant to think that Mrs Holmes was a good mother? Lying to her eldest child, isolating her youngest?

Anyway, Sherlock and Mycroft decide to stop investigating, and go to play pool. Mycroft is STILL complaining. Sherlock, when he can get a word in edgeways, seems to be playing peacekeeper.

Mycroft is plotting to send Enola off to a boarding school. So that she won’t be a “complete failure”.

I mean, given that this is, presumably, the same day that they met, and he’s barely shared a word with her, he’s a bit quick to judge.

Also, I am already sick of Mycroft. He’s just… He just keeps talking! So far, at least, he is the irritatingly loud voice of the patriarchy, and no-one is being at all subtle about it, either.

We shall have to see how this develops, I suppose…

Right, so a school mistress is arriving to meet Enola. She arrives in an early car.

Mycroft wants her to “break her and build her back up”. This begins with some profound body-shaming, and the provision of a new set of “acceptable” clothes.

Oh my gosh, this school mistress… is played by the same actress as Petunia Dursley from Harry Potter. And Carolyn Martins, from Killing Eve.

Wow.

I think, for a moment, we need to pause and admire the amazing acting talent that is already present in this film.

Then pause for another moment to wonder why, given the acting pedigree, I still dislike, to some degree or other, every character that we have yet been introduced to.

OK, to clarify… Enola. I don’t dislike her so much, as feel that… something is wrong. Why is she smiley, why is jaunty, happy music playing as she cycles to a train station to meet her brothers… who are only returning because her mother has vanished?

Also, I find the constant asides mildly irritating. Especially given that they’re basically all unnecessary.

Also, what do we actually know about Enola? She boasts that she has studied for studying’s own sake, she states that she doesn’t need friends, she loves her mother and no-one else… but what does she want from life? Does she know what the outside world is like? Is she naive? How much education has she actually received? Does she have the capacity to have similar deductive powers to her brothers?

(If she does have the capacity, by the way, she would still need to spend years around other people in order to study them and develop that skill. If she randomly has the ability later in this film, I will be mildly irritated)

Anyway, frankly, I think Enola should go to a school. Possibly not a school where the headmistress slaps her for speaking out of turn, but definitely somewhere where she can meet people her own age. I’m not saying that she needs to “fit in”, which seems to be what Mycroft wants, but she should at least get the chance to see the world from perspectives that aren’t her Mothers.

Ah, finally we learn a bit more about what Enola actually wants.

Or, well, what she doesn’t want. Mycroft tells her that she needs to learn how to behave in society . or she will never have a husband. She loudly declares that she doesn’t want a husband.

Kind of ironic, given how both Mycroft and Sherlock are lifelong Batchelors, choosing to eschew societies instructions that all people must be married. Though I suppose that need has always been considered more pressing for women than men…

Sherlock refuses to challenge Mycroft on this, or anything. Which is…

OK, so so far, neither of these characters are reading correctly for me. I can’t imagine Sherlock Holmes ever failing to voice his mind on an issue, or Mycroft being so interested in being judgemental. The Mycroft I know would never have gone back to his family home at all, he’s just have sent a telegram, and maybe asked Sherlock to go and sort things out. Sherlock, on discovering that he has a sister who has lacked an education would, I am sure, want to send her to a place where she can learn.

Sherlock Holmes is, often, well… I mean, he is probably less sexist than most people of his time, but still…. Dubious. Nevertheless, there are some women whom he develops an enormous amount of respect for. I believe that Sherlock Holmes, when confronted with this situation, would want to mould his sister into such a woman. Someone who would have strong morals, be intelligent, be powerful.

And the best way to help her grow into such a person would be to get her a good education. I can imagine Sherlock sending her to a good school, but equally, I can picture him using his many contacts, and the favours owed to him, to find a household where she could be mentored by a matriarch that he respected. Most importantly, he would realise that forcing his sister into anything would not end well.

Anyway. Mycroft and Sherlock trying to force their sister to go to a boarding school… doesn’t end well. She runs off into the grounds, climbs a tree, and starts sketching. Sherlock follows her.

I am getting serious stereotypical middle “peacekeeper” child off him. I think Cavill is acting the role fairly well, but it just seems very wrong for Sherlock to be acting in this way.

Anyway. I think they’re meant to be having a bonding moment. They talk about Enola as a youngster. Apparently, Sherlock doesn’t remember much of her at all. Which is nice, given that the age gap must be at least ten, fifteen years.

And apparently Sherlock has been too busy to visit or write since he left home, and now he looks at their mother’s disappearance as a nice, satisfying little puzzle to solve.

Well, that was a sensitive way of speaking to a teenage girl who has lost the only person who has always been close to her.

Sherlock then goes on to reprimand her for “being emotional”.

You know, Sherlock Holmes, who clearly doesn’t understand emotions at all, and DEFINITELY never experiences them himself.

That was… that was sarcasm, by the way. Not that the writers of many modern Sherlock Holmes adaptations would be able to tell.

Anyway, Sherlock gives Enola a short “look for the details” deduction lesson… and by short, I mean, a single line… and Enola decides to go through her mother’s parting gift to her.

She discovers a note which says “alone”… “That’s my name!” she says.

So much for “don’t pay to much attention to the alone/Enola thing” she said earlier.

Hidden inside is a…. ridiculously simple and easy to solve message. “look in my chrysanthemums”.

Conveniently, of course, Enola’s mother bought some chrysanthemums before leaving, to confuse Enola and make her tip out a vase before realising that the flowers in question are painted, not real.

(Also, earlier Sherlock deduced that Mother planned to leave by her failure to buy more pencils… but buying flowers just before she left was clearly insignificant? I mention it now because, previously, I had assumed that Enola or the housekeeper may have bought them, but Enola just confirmed that it was her mother who got them. Why, if she knew she was about to leave?)

Anyway, a letter is hidden in the back of a painting… along with loads of money.

Enola immediately decides that she needs to run away from home as well. She steals some of Sherlock’s old clothes, dresses as a boy, and cycles off.

Oh my gosh, we’re only twenty minutes into this two-hour long film. This is hard work to watch.

Enole decides that the first thing to do it board a train. There’s a kerfuffle at the station, a boy has, apparently, snuck on, and his mother is looking for him.

I am sure this will not be significant in any way.

Back at the hall, Mycroft is just realising that Enola has fled. He is… grumpy about it.

On the train, Enola realises that the missing boy has hidden himself in a carpet bag. He cuts his way out of it, failing to notice the stranger staring at him.

He also falls… let’s say seven, eight feet to the ground, and is unable to use his arms to protect his head, so he should probably have cracked his skull open, and maybe broken a bone or two into the bargain.

Enola immediately asks the mysterious young man to leave. He quickly realises that Enola is not a boy, and introduces himself as the Viscount of Tewkesbury.

Enola… actually displays a modicum of intelligence. She noticed a glance between the boy’s mother and a sinister looking passenger, deduces that this means that the boy is still being searched for by someone on the train. Enola wants nothing to do with this, and tells him to leave.

He…. Does.

37 seconds later….

OK, that’s funny. He’s back, begging Enola for help. She is calm, focused, and clearly just wants nothing to do with this idiot.

I love this.

She leaves the boy to be found, but hears a struggle behind her.

So she turns back, to go and rescue him… in time to see that he’s about to be thrown from the train.

She pulls him back in, hits the attacker over the head, and runs off with her new friend to try and find a way off this train. I love her profound irritation at being pulled into this life-or-death situation.

She decides to solve the problem by climbing off the train, and onto the back of the engine pulling it… with the intention of jumping off the train. Somehow, they both survive.

Again. The reactions of both of them are profound irritation and mutual dislike.

I… that might get old quickly.

Sherlock is excited at the prospect of getting to hunt both his sister, and his mother. The housekeeper is upset at how happy he seems about the whole thing, pointing out that Enola “knows nothing of the world”.

I mean, she was able to travel to a train station, buy a ticket and save the life of an aristocrat. I think she’s doing fine.

Sherlock is on her trail though. Perhaps he is profoundly un-energetic about it, but he finds the flower clue.

Tewkesbury and Enola, meanwhile, are walking through the countryside together. Good thing no-one’s looking for either of them, because they’re… slightly conspicuous. Tewkesbury finds out that Enola is a Holmes, and that she is running from her brother.

Enola is clearly angry with herself for telling him her name when she’s meant to be “undercover”, but then the whimsical music starts playing, and….

And…

Oh no. He’s clever, and interested in botany. This means that the two of them will end up being either close friends, or romantically involved.

In my opinion, if they end up romantically involved it seriously takes away from the whole “I don’t want a husband!” thing. It’s one of my pet peeves, a strong female doesn’t want to marry, but then she meets the man who makes her realise that some men are nice, and so she settles down with him. I mean… it’s fine. But it seems to be dangerously close to suggesting that settling down and marrying is the norm, and anyone who doesn’t want to just needs to find the right person. If you extend that idea, it would mean that anyone who doesn’t want to marry is abnormal, or even unacceptable. This has always seemed like a dangerous idea to me, one that I feel this film should challenge. We’ll have to wait and see…

Anyway, the two runaways are having a lovely dinner of cooked mushroom and gathered greens. Somehow, they’ve managed to wonder for many hours through the British countryside without finding another human being. That seems… unlikely, especially as they were close to a trainline, and not that far from the station.

Besides. Enola gives her definitely-not-a-boyfriend a haircut, while they talk about how many of their close relatives have died.

I mean, this is Victorian England.

So, Tewkesbury is running away because he doesn’t want to join the army, he wants to go into politics and bring about reform. I’m amazed that he hasn’t realised that, as a Victorian Lordling, he would almost certainly be promoted to high rank within a day or two, and then spend the entirety of his service discussing whether the colour of his soldier’s uniforms would clash with his coat of arms.

Besides, I would think politics would be a wholly acceptable career for someone of his birth.

Anyway. Turns out Tewkesbury and Enola are both going to London.

Hooray.

But Enola is clear that once they get to London, they will split up.

I’m sure that will last.

Luckily for them, they found some friendly country folk to give them a ride. Well, I suppose Enola still has all that money with her.

And….

WOW. Enola made Tewkesbury’s hair look THAT good with a sharpened stone in the dark??? She doesn’t need to go to finishing school, she needs to start her own hairdressing academy!

Enola may be a skilled barber, but she is completely incapable of coping with London. She decides that the best way to survive is to… become a Lady. Put on a dress.

So she pops into a clothing shop.

Oh. I bet next time we see her, she’ll be properly attired, and wearing garments that would take days to tailor to fit properly.

Anyway, back to the brothers grim. They’re in a club. In London.

The Diogenes club? Well, apparently not. The Diogenes club is famously silent, this one is… not.

Apparently, Sherlock was offered the job of looking for Tewkesbury, but turned it down so that he could concentrate on finding Enola.

Interestingly, therefore, it seems that Enola’s escape has so far only resulted in the world’s greatest detective being taken off her missing mother’s case.

Great work there, Enola.

Mycroft, thought, wants to find Mrs Holmes. I mean… I don’t know why. He clearly despises her.

Back to Enola in the dress shop.

Ah. Clearly there is an issue here, because Enola is dressed as a boy, so she has to flash her money around to persuade the shopkeeper to sell to her.

Enola puts on a corset, and gives a lecture about corsetry being a symbol of oppression “to those who are forced to wear it”. I mean.. I was ready to disagree, but actually, she’s right. Forcing people to wear a corset would be a form of oppression. Historically, though, women chose to wear corsets. I mean, what was the alternative, before the invention of the bra? A lot of women would struggle to wear any clothes comfortably if there was not some inbuilt breast support.

Anyway, I like the way she’s presenting this. “If it’s my choice, it’s not oppression” seems like a reasonable argument.

By the time Enola emerges, she looks like a proper little lady. Though the rat-infested lodgings she is offered…. Not so much.

Enola creates a cipher to put in the newspaper, a message to her mother asking for a message. The next stage of her plan. After that, she decides to visit an old correspondent of her mothers. Apparently, it’s a…. martial arts gym? For women?

Interesting…….

Anyway, the correspondent is there. Enola’s first teacher. So they have a nice little fight to introduce themselves again.

Apparently, Mrs Holmes is trying not to be found, and it’s related to her meetings with other Victorian women. Enola remembers a name she heard mentioned, and asks her old teacher about it. She tells Enola to stop looking for someone else, and to focus on herself.

Anyway, before she leaves, she notices… um… gunpowder.

And it kind of sounds like Enola’s Mum might be plotting to bomb London.

Wow. Way to sensitively tackle the complex history of the fight for suffrage.

Enola goes to one of the places her mother mentioned, and finds a rudimentary chemistry lab, being used to manufacture explosives.

There’s also a set of “votes for women” leaflets.

Wait, hang on…. We’re there! A third entry on the “weird similarities to “Sherlock”” list- covering the battle for women’s suffrage. As seen in “The Abominable Bride”.

I actually quite liked how Sherlock was shown to handle that moment. I wonder if this film will be as sensitive?

Anyway, Enola is just starting to realise that her mother might be… um… planning something dangerous.

On her way out of the building, Enola is attacked by the guy from the train….

Wait, is that Owen, from Torchwood? Burn Gorman?

Yes, it is!

Well hello!

Anyway, he threatens to drown Enola unless she tells him where Tewkesbury is. Enola can’t tell hi, but he tries to drown her anyway.

She plays dead, and uses surprise to her advantage, headbutting him and running.

Anyway, apparently she’s… really skilled at fighting.

Not sure why she didn’t employ it earlier, but there you go.

So she fights this guy, armed with an iron bar, disarms him, but gets thrown against a wall. She’s stunned but… suddenly gets her second wind. Sort of. I mean, she’s thrown to the ground again, but… fails to launch another attack.

They move back into the gunpowder filled room, and he pulls out a knife. He stabs her…

And her life is saved by the whalebone corset.

There were genuine records of this kind of thing happening, so… cool.

Still, Enola is about to be killed again, so she sets off all that gunpowder and runs.

I mean, she probably killed the guy with that… right?

Yowch.

Have to say, I’m mildly disappointed at the level of fighting skill displayed here. I mean, given that she supposedly spent half her time training with her mother, you’d kind of expect her to be able to deal with a single, presumably untrained man.

Enola retreats to her lodging. She’s bruised, battered. She monologues about how much she doesn’t want Tewkesbury in her life….

The person, not the place. Tewkesbury is lovely.

Anyway, apparently she will help him anyway, because she feels a “responsibility” to him. She will delay her “find my mother” questline, preferring the “save Tewkesbury” arc.

In order to do this, she buys a mourning dress. She will pretend to be a widow.

To…..

To… go and visit Tewkesbury’s mother?

Why would she know what’s going on?

Seems an interesting, and very dangerous logical jump to make.

Also interesting, she presents herself as a private detective.

So… why dress up as a widow then? If you’re grieving, surely they’ll assume you’re distracted and unfit for the job?

Anyway, she gets to meet Tewkesbury’s Mum, but she thinks that Enola is a reporter. Desperate, she drops the “Sherlock Holmes” name bomb. That…. Works. Luckily for her, Sherlock is too busy looking for her to actually pick up the case.

Tee hee. The Mum points out that a widow is an unusual choice, and Enola agrees that… she may have “overthought” her dress.

That’s not the first time that’s happened. Well played, Enola Holmes, well played.

Ah. But there’s a problem.

Lestrade shows up. He knows Sherlock, so knows that Sherlock has no assistant. Enola and Lestrade are both kicked out. They wait for a carriage together, and quiz each other on their Sherlock knowledge. Enola manages to impress Lestrade, and to convince him that she does know him. Lestrade drives off without her anyway, though.

That’s a shame. I could kind of enjoy a Lestrade/Enola buddy cop film.

Enola decides to interview one of the gardeners, and finds out that Tewkesbury likes to hide in nature.

She also buys his clothes off him.

Sherlock, meanwhile, has found the female only martial-arts gym. He follows the owner into the back room, and threatens to set the government on her if she does not help him.

So… Sherlock’s completely unphased by the arrest and censorship of a prominent campaigner for women’s rights?

Sure. He seems like a nice guy.

Anyway, Enola’s former teacher rats her out completely, but refuses to say anything about Mrs Holmes. She also takes the opportunity to taunt Sherlock about his lack of interest in politics, “because you have no interest in changing the world”.

This doesn’t feel like the Sherlock Holmes I know. He is all about the betterment of mankind through scientific progress, that’s… kind of his thing. And although he has little interest in politics, it isn’t because it’s “boring”, as this Holmes alludes, but rather because it can distract him from his goal.

Next, we cut to Mycroft. He’s having a shave, sat next to Lestrade. It’s a planned meeting (interesting, Lestrade and Mycroft never had a relationship in the original stories) to discuss Enola. Mycroft instructs Lestrade to find her. Lestrade heads off to do just that.

Shame he didn’t… you know, give her a lift, or something, even when he suspected that she was the girl he’d been told to look for.

Enola, meanwhile, is exploring the forest that Tewkesbury liked to explore in. She has found a branch that he told her about earlier, it fell, and nearly crushed him.

She discovers that it was half cut. A trap, then.

She also finds his tree house.

Which, apparently, he built himself.

She explores his belongings, and more whimsical music plays. This would suggest a deeper relationship forming between the two.

Interesting to see what happens next….

She is interrupted by Tewkesbury’s grandmother. She asks if Enola has found anything to tell Sherlock about. Enola reports that, sadly, she hasn’t.

The Grandmother is interested, and interesting… she seems kind, but threatens to fire the gardener that Enola bought the clothes off.

Enola persuades her not to, and they go for a walk together. They discuss the nature of beauty, and whether it is wise to risk what could be, for what is.

I have a….. feeling about her.

Enola goes to Camden town market, and finds Tewkesbury selling flowers, following a clue left in his book.

She warns him that someone is trying to kill him, and he seems… decidedly unimpressed with this news.

The dialogue here is starting to feel… quite stilted. Kind of awkward. I think maybe the actors are trying to portray the awkwardness the two character feel at their reunion, but it doesn’t quite come off. Somehow, be it writing or acting, the lines don’t feel natural.

They go back to Enola’s boarding house. Enola explains that she is looking for her mother, or, to be more precise, waiting for her mother to contact her.

The two bond further over their lack of family, and we finally get there…

“At least we’ve got each other”.

Enola’s reply is a fantastically British “I’ll get us some tea”.

They get onto discussing who wants Tewkesbury dead. Enola’s theory is that it’s his family. She also thinks that the same people killed his father.

Um. Anyway. While they’re busy arguing about it…. Turns out Lestrade was in the room all along. Enola slams a boiling kettle into him (…. OUCH!), and they retreat and barricade themselves inside a room.

Enola holds the door, and tells Tewkesbury to run. So he does.

And Enola is captured.

Mycroft and her have a nice little “You only did this to stop me from bringing shame down upon you”, “I’m doing this for your own good” conversation.

Then Mycroft takes the rest of the money back.

This Mycroft is very, VERY focused on money. Another departure from the original, who couldn’t care less about his own finances, as long as he can afford a comfortable life.

And so, Enola gets to school. More body shaming happens in the first few seconds. Followed by a compilation of “young women being turned into polite little robots” footage. Enola does a very good job of fitting in, considering.

But seriously, they even eat in unison!

Until Enola deliberately spills her soup all over them. The headmistress tells Enola that she is just trying to help her, but also taunts her about her mother leaving.

Um… remember earlier, when I said that Enola would probably benefit from going to school?

Not this school.

Enola is promptly locked in a solitary room… as a punishment, I think?

Anyway, the next day, Sherlock pops over to visit. He complains about being forced to do calligraphy as a child, but then explains that, now, he can interpret handwriting very well.

I don’t know if that was meant to make Enola feel better about being in a school where she is judged for being bad at embroidery, or walking incorrectly. Sherlock tells her that understanding other people’s posture might be useful.

I mean… he’s trying very, very hard to polish this turd, but it’s still a turd.

Sherlock has followed the same path as Enola in pursuing their mother, and they discuss their mother’s motives together. Enola wants the world to change, Sherlock wants to stay out of politics…

I feel like I’ve heard this conversation somewhere before, and complained about both parts of it before, so I won’t bring it up again.

Anyway, Enola challenges Sherlock, makes him admit that he cares for her, then turns his previous statement about the uselessness of emotions back on him.

This is the problem. If you decide that Sherlock Holmes has to be emotionless, and then he shows emotion, then you create a character that does not make sense.

That is, I think, what they have done here, and why I struggle to see Cavill’s character as Sherlock Holmes at all.

It’s acted impeccably, but I just…

Anyway, Sherlock asks Enola about Tewkesbury. Enola pretends that she doesn’t know anything about it, and Sherlock returns an old toy to her. He also (basically) encourages her to run away again, and continue with her case.

He also leaves her a newspaper, and she realises the true motives for the attempted murder of Tewkesbury.

He has a vote in the House of Lords. He has a vote on suffrage.

He also arranges for himself to be posted into the school, to break her out. His escape plan is much worse than his entry plan, and that’s saying something.

Miraculously, it works, and they drive off with the headmistress’s car.

Part way there… Enola decides to divert to Tewkesbury’s home.

On the way, they discuss which of Tewkesbury’s relatives wanted to kill him. They go for uncle.

I… think they’re wrong. At this point, I would put my money on the kindly grandmother.

Anyway, they arrive. Apparently, it’s really easy to break into a massive estate full or nobles and their servants.

Even if you arrive in a loud and unusual motor car.

Unfortunately, they were expected. Someone locks them inside, and starts shooting. The man with the brown hat. They hide between a marble statue and a suit of armour, and…

And I swear that, if one of them magically put on the armour and uses it’s relative bullet-proofness to just walk up and clobber their attacker over the head, I will officially declare this the greatest Sherlock Holmes adaptation ever made.

And……..

No.

Oh well. But Enola does throw a bit of marble statue at another suit of armour to create a distraction, allowing them to move to new hiding places.

Then, she jumps on him.

Because that went so well last time, and this time she has a gun.

But thankfully, after she’s knocked unconscious, Tewkesbury lunges to her defence.

Still, in just a few seconds, both are unconscious. The man in the brown hat decides to finish them off by garrotting, rather than shooting. Conveniently, this gives Enola enough time to have a hallucination of her mother telling her that she isn’t alone, and that allows her to flip the guy in the brown hat.

He has one of the most…… ridiculous deaths ever. As he falls, his head slams against a carved wooden pine cone, causing a severe skull injury, from the look of it. For a full moment, his head just rests against it, then he falls to the ground.

That’s a unique weapon, Enola.

Anyway, he chokes out some last words. Apparently, he works for “England”.

And then, we hear… ooh, I was right!

The tapping of a walking stick.

Hi Granny.

She bends down. She picks up the gun.

She shoots her grandson dead in the centre of the chest.

And it doesn’t look like he was wearing a whalebone corset.

Enola walks over and takes the gun from her, then runs back to her fallen friend.

Well, either this got very dark, very quickly, or….

He’s not dead?

Oh, OK. He’s not dead.

He was wearing… some kind of body armour?

Wait, no!

He didn’t….

He did!

A breastplate from the suit of armour!

OK, well…. Not cool enough to make me fulfil my promise and declare this the best Holmes adaptation ever.

But definitely cool enough to give it a few bonus points.

Anyway, Tewkesbury stares down his murderoud Grandmother, and tells her that her “time is over”.

By which he means that he’s going to go and vote for the bill, rather than that he’s going to kill her….

Probably.

Anyway, cut to Sherlock the next morning. He’s visiting Scotland Yard, looking for his friendly neighbourhood Lestrade. He tells Lestrade to arrest Tewkesbury’s granny.

Lestrade tells him, though, that Enola has already solved it. Sherlock is surprised, but pleased.

Enola also turns up to watch Tewkesbury take his seat in the house of Lords. They have a friendly, warm exchange through the bars. It includes….

An invitation for Enola to move in with them.

Well, that relationship progressed quickly.

Enola refuses, but puts her hand on Tewkesbury’s, and he kisses it.

So… yep. Miss “I don’t want to marry” has found a man worth marrying.

Yay.

Tearfully, he goes off to vote to allow women to vote. Enola, meanwhile, finds a cipher in the newspaper.

But she suspects… not from her mother. But her brother.

So she swaps clothes with another young man….

Yet again…

And she goes to watch her brothers wait for her at the meeting place.

Sherlock, meanwhile, convinces Mycroft to allow him to be Enola’s ward.

Well… that was easy.

Anyway, apparently the vote passed. Enola watched her brothers walk away without talking to them.

And when Enola gets home…

Her mother is there. Waiting.

Enola is…. Cross. Understandably. Her mother apologises. Apparently it wasn’t safe to tell Enola what was going on.

Her story is that she left Enola to fight for a better future for women. And, by so doing, she inadvertently set off a chain of events whereby Enola saved the life of the Lord who would pass the reform bill. She congratulates Enola, tells her how proud she is, and they embrace.

Mrs Holmes leaves to continue the good fight, and Enola gives her final monologue.

What has she learned? Well, she needs to “find her own path”. But she also has friends. And a job. She has decided that she is a detective.

I suppose we’ll gloss over the long and painful time where she would have to build up her private practise, or the moral ambiguity of her mother’s past and future actions. And the question of whether Sherlock and Mycroft keep looking for her. And the problem of how she will provide for herself. And whether she ends up having a relationship with Lord Tewkesbury.

So. Enola Holmes. What do I think?

I think… I think this is probably a good film. But I think it could have been made into a better film in one simple way.

Don’t make it a Sherlock Holmes film. I mean, it barely is anyway. Sherlock is hardly in it, and the version of the Sherlock character they use is hardly Sherlock anyway. Mycroft is nothing like the original. There’s no mention of 221b, or of John Watson, or of… well, anything Holmes related.

The other thing that I’ve struggle with a little… is the tone. Enola, especially when she says her asides, is always chipper, idealistic and optimistic. But the issues that are being discussed here, the subjugation of women, the fight for the right to vote, the use of violence to fight for civil and human rights… they’re not light-hearted.

I can’t help but feel that they really shied away from the issues they were trying to discuss. In order for a woman’s right to vote to be recognised, blood had to be spilled. Mrs Holmes is, apparently, a part of a movement that is prepared to use bombs, and other terrible weapons to drive their message home. Now, this does represent the extreme lengths that women in the real world had to go to to get their rights recognised, but the problem is… the film doesn’t actually show any of those weapons being used. It doesn’t show the real cost of suffrage. Not the cost to the nation, to business owners and property holders, or the much greater cost of the women who fought, and were imprisoned, beaten or died for the cause.

I think this film tries so hard to drum the message home, “women can choose their own path”, “women shouldn’t be treated differently from men” that it ends up glossing over the fight that had to be won for those things to become possible.

And, I mean, that’s OK… if the whole plot of the film didn’t revolve around the issue of the vote.  

Right. So, is this a good Sherlock Holmes adaptation. No.

Is it a good film? I mean… probably, yeah, why not.

But it wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t find myself getting particularly close to… well, any of the characters, come to think of it. Would the younger version of myself look at Enola and say, “I want to be like her!”?

I… don’t think so. I mean, for one thing, I was expecting her to be more… well, you know… actually good at fighting.

She basically only wins one of the many fights that she’s in in this film, and then only because her opponent pauses to use a slow and difficult method of killing, rather than picking up his gun again.

As for the other characters… well, the men are split into the “good” and the “bad”. Sherlock and Tewkesbury are good. Mycroft and Lestrade are bad.

And they make it VEEERY obvious.

As for Mrs Holmes… I mean, she’s fighting the good fight, and all that, but I can’t help but feel that her using all of Enola’s childhood to drill into her messages about “making big decisions”, and “following your own path”… I mean, the irony is that in trying to make her daughter grow up into someone who would be independent, and think independently, she inadvertently made her a vehicle for her own political beliefs.

I mean, I’m not saying that she’s wrong or anything, just that Enola never got the chance to hear other points of view, and then come to a decision on how she wanted to live her life by herself.

And then, of course, she left without telling Enola why. Which seems… unnecessary.

All in all, then, I think this is kind of a good film… it just should have been better. It should have taken more risks, dealt less in blacks and whites, and more in greys, and either taken the Sherlock Holmes name off itself completely, or invested more time and effort into getting the characters it was copying right.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review today, and I promise I’ll be getting back to Sherlock soon!