Sherlock Holmes in modern times, Sherlock Holmes woman, Sherlock Holmes robot, Sherlock Holmes Mickey Mouse – we have not seen any variations on the theme of the great detective. Meet another one – Sherlock, more precisely, Enola Holmes, the younger sister of her world-famous brother, a sixteen-year-old girl trying to become a detective in Victorian England. Enola Holmes is produced by Legendary Pictures for Netflix and produced by 16-year-old Millie Bobby Brown, star of Stranger Things .

Enola Holmes is a film adaptation of the first book in a series of novels about the younger sister of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, written by the American writer Nancy Springer, who specializes in the so-called young adult literature – literature for teenagers aged 12-18, usually light fiction and detective stories. Actually, novels about detective boys and girls were popular in all countries of the world, including the USSR, but this genre was especially widespread in the UK and the USA. What is worth only a series about Nancy Drew, which has been published since 1930 and includes more than 220 books (!!!), the last of which came out in the summer of 2020, and the next two will be on sale in January and March 2021. Here It’s a franchise, it’s a franchise!

Compared to Nancy Drew (naturally, this series has been written by different authors for 90 years), the Enola Holmes series includes only six novels, the last of which was published in 2010 and tells about the reconciliation of the older and younger Holmes and the return of the prodigal sister into the fold of the family. Yes, according to the plot of the series, Enola Holmes, who is 20 years younger than her brothers, does not get along very well with them, and when the girl’s mother suddenly disappears, young Enola refuses to accept the fate prepared for her by her older brothers. According to British laws of the 19th – early 20th centuries, until the age of 21, an unmarried girl remains in the care of the eldest man of the family, in this case Mycroft Holmes, and only he alone can make all decisions for her. Enola runs away from home and throughout all six books she runs from her brothers, including from the famous detective, solving detective puzzles along the way, breaking codes and looking for kidnapped people.

In the adaptation from Legendary Pictures / Netflix, the authors decided to slightly modify this plot. And while the plot of the film follows the events of The Case of the Missing Marquess (2006), there are a few differences. Yes, for most of the film, Enola is hiding from Mycroft, who is trying to send her to a school for girls from noble families, but the girl still finds a common language with the same Sherlock. And although by law the younger brother has no right to interfere in her fate, he helps her.

In this regard, the image of Sherlock Holmes in Enola Holmes is interesting. Unlike the somewhat prim and arrogant sociopath we are used to, the character of Henry “The Witcher” Cavill is more human and emotional. He cares about his sister, is somewhat sentimental and sometimes even allows himself to joke and smile. You know, I would have watched a separate film about Holmes with Henry Cavill. And don’t tell me it’s “not canon”. On June 23, 2020, The Estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the organization responsible for licensing the likeness of Holmes and protecting the property rights of Arthur Conan Doyle’s descendants, sued Legendary Pictures, Netflix and Nancy Springer personally, over the rights to a more emotional and human Holmes, described in the last ten stories by Doyle, published in 1923-27, have not yet entered the public domain. So the emotional Holmes is quite canonical.

But back to Enola Holmes. Actually, I have nothing against literary pastiche, among such works there are not only good, but sometimes even more interesting works than the originals, for example … Kotlyarevsky’s Aeneid. And perhaps, as teenage detectives, Nancy Springer’s novels are really good, not for nothing that they were nominated for the award twice. Edgar Allan Poe. But … they are too teenage and predictable. The plot develops exactly as you expect it, detective puzzles look somewhat far-fetched and sometimes even stupid. Yes, it’s not easy to figure out the criminal here, but rather because his motive is … strange, and the author made the intruder exactly the one you think of last. The reception is old, but here, to our surprise, it works.

Enola Holmes is a beautiful film. Here are excellent scenery of Victorian England, chic costumes, good dialogues, high-quality camera work. Well, yes, the film starred really good actors. The same Millie Bobby Brown has already proved her worth as an actress, and the role of a young independent woman trying to prove her right to be what she wants in a society where women are limited in everything suits her very well. Colors the film and the participation of other stars: the already mentioned Henry “Superman” Cavill (Sherlock Holmes) with his open smile, so unusual on the face of Holmes; Sam Claflin (Mycroft Holmes), who you may have seen in The Hunger Games film series and the Peaky Blinders series; and, of course, Helen Bonham Carter, who played their mother.

Novels about Enola Holmes, written in 2006-2010, are focused primarily on teenage girls, naturally, they have feminist motives from the very beginning. For the film, they decided to strengthen them, putting the struggle of the suffragettes at the center of the plot. Yes, this is an important historical context for Great Britain at the end of the 19th century, but in some episodes it looks too far-fetched, and the behavior of some of the film’s heroines is a clear anachronism. However, there are enough anachronisms here. Although Enola Holmes does not say what kind of bill in Parliament it is referring to, the bill of universal suffrage is clearly implied. Here are just a limited suffrage appeared in Great Britain in 1918, and full – only in 1928. It is better not to remember about open jiu-jitsu courses for women in 1904 at all.

All in all, Enola Holmes is not a bad movie. The actors are clearly trying, the operator and decorators have worked adequately. Screenwriters can hardly be called hacks, it’s just that this genre has its own canons, which the authors have to follow. This film, although extremely predictable, is beautiful and quite watchable. Yes, it’s worth watching in English, the film was played mainly by English actors, their pronunciation is just wonderful.

And although the budget of Enola Holmes due to the participation of stars, the use of expensive sets, costumes and graphics, should be rather big (Netflix traditionally does not give figures), the film will most likely find its audience and we will see a sequel. And not one. Well, it’s still better than Twilight, Divergent or The Maze Runner . However, the first parts of the named series also did not portend the nightmare into which the sequels rolled.