By: Amanda Guarragi

Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) has been quite busy since her first investigation and is coming into her own as a detective. Now a detective-for-hire, Enola Holmes takes on her first official case to find a missing girl as the sparks of a dangerous conspiracy ignite a mystery that requires the help of friends – and Sherlock (Henry Cavill) himself – to unravel. This story is based on actual events and is more female-centric than the first installment. It was great to see women at the forefront during a time when their opinions were silenced. In this mystery, the women were trying to expose the corruption within the government and community. Like any Holmes mystery, there are a lot of moving parts and this story was a bit easier to follow than the first.

Enola Holmes is trying to make her way as a Detective in London, but sadly she is always in her older brother’s shadow. She thought after her first case people would know her name. Instead, they go to her hoping there would be easier access to her brother Sherlock. Enola wants to do things on her terms. In doing so, she discovers that it’s better to have people around to help you through those times. You can be an individual and be uniquely, unapologetically you, but you don’t have to be alone to embrace who you are. It’s not only Enola who undergoes this change in mentality, Sherlock does too. It’s interesting to see the dynamic change between Enola and Sherlock in this film as they come together for the greater good. 

Director Harry Bradbeer has done an incredible job and capturing the essence of the Holmes family and how they conduct themselves. You can see the gears turning in Enola’s head, as the visuals are edited sharply together to parallel her mind racing to understand the clue. One character and director also knows when to place the fourth wall breaks to connect with Enola in certain instances. Millie Bobby Brown is lovely in this and has made the character unique to who she is as well. The reason why this sequel worked a bit better is because of the addition of Cavill’s Sherlock. As their stories intertwine, we get to understand who he is as a character a bit more because this is an earlier version of him. 

Enola Holmes 2 is a wonderful sequel that strips away the excess and tells an important story about individuality and women’s rights. The way Bradbeer and writer Jack Throne adapted this story worked incredibly well and showed a different, more mature side of Enola. As the character grows with each investigation (much like Sherlock), the stories get darker in tone as well. Netflix does have a very good thing going with Enola Holmes. Hopefully, after what is set up in this sequel, Sherlock gets his spin-off, so his story doesn’t interfere with Enola’s. There are many mysteries and Millie Bobby Brown needs to continue making these films because of how wholesome they are. The way Enola and Sherlock calculate the clues and the investigation is unique and they join the ranks of other iterations of the Holmes novels.