‘Enola Holmes’ reviews round-up: ‘Sweet, family-friendly adventure’ is ‘charming’
Netflix’s new adaptation of Enola Holmes launches today!
Based on Nancy Springer’s book series about the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, the new adventure movie stars Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown as the titular young detective.
The cast also includes Henry Cavill (Batman vs Superman) as Sherlock Holmes, Sam Claflin (Peaky Blinders) as Mycroft Holmes, and Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown) as their mother Eudoria.
Watch the trailer:
The official synopsis reads: “When Enola Holmes—Sherlock’s teen sister—discovers her mother missing, she sets off to find her, becoming a super-sleuth in her own right as she outwits her famous brother and unravels a dangerous conspiracy around a mysterious young Lord.”
We’ve rounded up a selection of reviews to help you decide if you’d like to watch the movie:
“…Millie Bobby Brown is terrific as Enola, charismatic and endearing in a role that could easily have become irritating. It’s a lighter role than we’ve seen her in to date and she shows a deft hand with comedy … There’s good support from Henry Cavill’s warmer take on Sherlock and Sam Claflin’s wonderfully horrid Mycroft, but Enola Holmes is Brown’s show and she makes the most of her first major lead movie role.” ★★★ – Digital Spy
“…a sweet, family-friendly adventure — even though it could give its headstrong protagonist more richness and complexity … Well-intentioned if sometimes lacking in subtlety, Enola Holmes offers a fine, spirited reminder that a traditional story can always be retold.” ★★★ – Empire
“Sherlock meets Fleabag in a zippy Conan Doyle pastiche … Millie Bobby Brown leads this buoyant film with the maturity of an older star – who cares if it’s little more than gentle fun?” ★★★ – The Telegraph
“In its brightest moments, Enola Holmes is charming, unexpected, and all-around inspiring. At its worst, it’s still a pretty good detective story. You really can’t go wrong with this one, and it feels like Netflix may finally have the film franchise it’s been trying so desperately to find.” ★★★★ – Comic Book
“Despite making room for such bombast, Enola Holmes remains tamer and more tasteful in its high-energy storytelling than Guy Ritchie’s recent Sherlock Holmes movies, and considerably more fun than last year’s Nancy Drew reboot.” – Variety
“…Enola carves out its own path, as the plucky heroine’s efforts to outsmart her siblings offering an amusing garnish to the more serious detective work.” – CNN
“Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown is cheeky young Enola searching for her missing mum in this amiable, starry mystery movie … It all rattles along amiably enough. Enola Holmes is the kind of all-star production that might once have been made by the BBC and graced the front cover of the Christmas Radio Times.” ★★★ – The Guardian
“At a little more than two hours, Enola Holmes may be a tad long, but there are a lot of threads to unravel and it does so more than satisfactorily. It’s a fine vehicle for the versatile Brown (who also produced with her sister Paige), and with five more books in the Springer series, it’s possible we haven’t seen the last of Sherlock Holmes’ smarter sister.” – LA Times
Enola Holmes is available to watch now exclusively on Netflix around the world.
Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes novels are available on Amazon.