Enola Holmes (2020)

Directed by Harry Bradbeer. Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Sam Claflin, Henry Cavill, Fiona Shaw, Susie Wokoma, Burn Goman, Frances de la Tour, Helena Bonham Carter, Adeel Akhtar. [PG-13]

Based on a series of 21st-century YA books by Nancy Springer imagining Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes (Cavill, Claflin) having a kid sister named Enola (that’s “alone” spelled backwards, don’t’cha know), a mix of Victorian-era proto-feminism and in-over-her-head preciousness. Plot has Enola endeavoring to track down her missing mother (Carter) and joining forces with a pale lordling (Partridge) to figure out why a ruthless thug (Gorman) is trying to kill him. The meandering story turns and mysteries/ciphers that need solving aren’t a very interesting lot, and there are too many slow spots, but it’s amiable enough, and has a nice positive message for younger viewers. Enola has pluck and wits, but as played by Brown, she consistently wears an expression of bewilderment and astonishment—coulda used a little more of the family’s shrewd, unflappable wiles. Speaking of that family, curious casting alert: Sherlock, no doubt, imagines himself as something of a Superman, but I don’t think he’d ever be described as looking like one. As for Enola’s intermittent addresses to the camera, they do nothing to refurbish a stale stylistic device. Sixteen-year-old Brown also co-produced, making her one of the youngest people to ever earn such a credit on a motion picture. Followed by a sequel.

54/100