Enola Holmes 2

• Directed by Harry Bradbeer
• November 4, 2022 (Netflix)
• Based on The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer

Enola Holmes takes on the case of a missing girl connected to possible corruption.

I was not thrilled with Enola Holmes but being a completist I felt compelled to watch the originally titled Enola Holmes 2. It starts out with far too much in common with the first film but ends much stronger than the first even if it is imperfect.

I enjoyed myself much more this time than I did the last time. I admit that the film started out weak and I almost called it a day but once it decided to be less silly and tell a story while developing its main female character it started hitting on most of its cylinders.

First films can be rough drafts with sequels being much more polished. This is more evidence of that. While there is still fourth wall breaking, it is far less annoying or telling you what to think of something. It is used now as a device to give a peek into Enola’s (Millie Bobby Brown) thoughts.

Enola is still all shy and flustered over Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) but also does something that might be seen as creepy. In what amounts to stalking, she has taken to hanging out along his walk to the House of Lords though doing her best not to be seen. That’s so cute!

She keeps referring to him as a ‘nincompoop’ whenever they meet and it makes you wonder why she stalks him. Tookie-pooh for his part stammers like Hugh Grant in any romantic comedy whenever he talks to her but by the end of the film somehow this evolves into a cute dynamic of playful banter. An improvement.

Sherlock (Henry Cavill) is investigating a bribery case involving mysterious accounts and payments. Enola is investigating her mystery with the first big clue being pages missing from a financial ledger. If that is not clear telegraphing of the two being connected, I don’t know what is.

I don’t think Cavill is a great actor but he’s a good actor. He does well with the material here and I think it’s much improved over the first film. Then again we get a little more Sherlock as a character. He’s got his baggage and perhaps even a substance abuse problem the character can be known for. 

I still have absolutely no idea why Enola’s mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) is on the run or why she is now on the run with underground Jiu Jitsu instructor Edith (Susie Wokoma). She has, however, taken to engaging in small mail bombings to disrupt the Postal Service. Why? No idea. She acts as a bit of deu ex machina for Enola this time rather than those making this using the situation she resolves as a test of Enola’s skill and intellect. We gotta include almost everybody here! No Mycroft other than in a picture.

That’s not to say all is lost in Enola Holmes 2. I think it is an improvement over the original. Once you get past the obligatory assistance of a mother who can’t be bothered to be around and focus on her daughter, there are good character moments in a story that ties into some real history.

New to the cast is David Thewlis as Police Superintendent Grail. A great actor, his character is the villain of the story though just not the ultimate villain of this. It sounds like he is aiming for a more working-class voice and it just feels a little off. Just perform in his normal voice which when controlled sounds condescending and almost aristocratic but when he decides to get evil sounds just sinister. One of the great actors working today who spends far too little time on the screen.

Despite the involvement of Sherlock, this is much more Enola’s case. He provides information and insight she cannot in a much better way than occurred in the last film. He’s more of a contributor than a superficial connection to the original literature. Their relationship grows here into a sibling relationship than the previously mentioned superficial connection to a better-known series.

The Moriarty reveal was underwhelming. Forget they made the character female when they are traditionally male. When Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Mira Troy/Moriarty, who posed as the secretary to the unscrupulous Lord McIntyre (Tim McMullan), revealed who she was, it was the expression of someone with the juiciest of gossip to tell and not the maniacal reveal of a mastermind. They seeded the clues nicely but her expressions were…odd.

While there were some issues here, Enola Holmes 2 was much better than the first. It was not the chore of the original but a largely fun time. A little telegraphing did not hurt this but there were a few unnecessary returns that did weaken the movie. Like so many sequels, it improved upon what was done before and found something of a footing.