The Enola Holmes Mysteries is a book series written by Nancy Springer, recently adapted into a movie in 2022 directed by Harry Bradbeer. This first movie starred Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, and Helena Bonham Carter. The film focuses on and follows Enola, younger sister of the renowned Sherlock Holmes as she embarks on a journey to find her mother, who has mysteriously disappeared. Along the way, she meets a boy, Tewkesbury, who is running away from home. Because of his title of the Viscount, someone has hired a hitman to chase after the young boy and kill him. Enola begins to unravel clues regarding the boy and her mother throughout the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Enola Holmes movie– it was a fresh, lighthearted mystery that portrayed a strong female lead. The riddles that the main character had to solve were unique and interesting. As for the sequel to this movie, I did not enjoy it as much as I’d anticipated. For one, it seemed to go by incredibly fast, as if nothing had really happened in the movie until the very end. Another reason I disliked this film was because the sexuality of Enola is a very controversial subject. In the book series, it is implied (but not confirmed) that she is canonically lesbian, while in the movies, there is no exploration of that concept whatsoever. Enola has only one love interest in the two movies and it is a male. I know that her sexuality is not technically confirmed, but it would’ve been nice to leave room for the character to explore different options and bring more inclusivity into the movies.

Overall, I feel that it is a well made movie with substantial acting and an entertaining plot. The only big problem in my eyes is the altering of the main character’s sexuality. It was such a simple detail to continue from the books into the movies and there really isn’t a good reason to change it. I did like that in most situations, Enola was smarter and better at fighting than the male lead because it showed a strong female character– but the fact that they have to end up together instead of her original script is a disappointing twist.