“Enola Holmes” Left Me Sleuthing for a Better Movie: The New Netflix Detective Film Will be Enjoyed by Some More Than Others

“Enola Holmes” premiered on Netflix in late Sept. and was met with some pretty massive critical acclaim. That isn’t a surprise, as it stars Millie Bobby Brown. After her breakout role as Eleven in “Stranger Things,” she’s become quite the super star. She also had top billing in 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” Whether Brown’s newest film was produced for Netflix in order to keep her popularity associated with the streaming service’s brand isn’t up to me to say, but I’m five percent sure there’s a conspiracy here.

But none of that has anything to do with the film itself. As one could deduce from the title, this film takes place in the Sherlock Holmes extended universe, Enola being the youngest of the family. She’s so young that, by the time the story gets started, the two haven’t seen each other for years. As she grows up, Enola’s mom teaches her fencing and detective stuff -- I guess that’s just how this family operates. 

Then, on Enola’s 16th birthday, her mother mysteriously disappears. Is she dead? Where’d she go? It’s almost like some kind of mystery or something. The rest of the movie is about that mystery, with lots of crazy observations and deductions that only a fictional character being written by a team of real world people could make. 

You can probably guess that I was a little bored watching this. It’s one of those movies where there’s lots of wordplay. For example, at one point, Sherlock says, “Maybe she wants to save the world.” Then, later on, Enola drops a, “Maybe it’s a world that needs saving.” Yeah, that kind of thing. If you enjoy writing where almost every dialogue exchange follows that exact formula, more power to you. 

I honestly really wanted to enjoy this film. I love mystery movies, and I love seeing more and more strong women onscreen as time goes on. But this movie felt very uninspired to me. What was missing is beyond me; I’m no detective. But if it sounds like your cup of tea, maybe you should nab your comically large magnifying glass and give it a watch! Different strokes for different folks, I always say!

Drew Hickman is a Junior

Communications Major from

Shawnee, Kansas