'Enola Holmes' review: Milly Bobby Brown lifts up this amazingly unique take on Sherlock Holmes

Director: Harry Bradbeer

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown. Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill

Score: 3.5

Sherlock Holmes. This name is long known in the world as both a detective with few equals, and a series that has endured long in the form of books, films, television shows. Intrigue, mystery and drama have always been a part of Sherlock, and now the proverbial hat falls on Enola Holmes.

For those not in the know, Enola Holmes is not a character envisioned by Arthur Conan Doyle, but is rather an original creation of one Nancy Springer. Enola is, in many ways like her brother Sherlock - fierce, witty, resourceful, and most of all, intelligent. In many ways, though, she is different - chief among them, being a free-willed young woman in a world where young women were expected to act only a certain way, which, interestingly, forms the crux of the story of Enola Holmes.

The story goes something like this - Enola's (Millie Bobby Brown) mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) disappears one day, apparently leaving nothing but a small gift for her. The disappearance triggers the return of Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft Holmes (Sam Claflin). To find her mother, the feisty Enola flees from home, and ends up in quite an adventure for herself.

Enola Holmes is a film heavily driven by a screenplay by Jack Thorne that is laced with wit and humour, mingled with just a bit of tense unease, and the overreaching sense of a conspiracy that waltzes into the story the moment Enola boards a train and meets a young nobleman (Louis Partridge) who is set to flee from home, that he may avoid conscription instead of doing what he feels is a necessary step to tend to the future for England. There's a certain mingling of the two characters that appears to fill a void that permeates their individual portrayals.

Millie Bobbie Brown is clearly a solid choice for this young Holmes. She carries every word, every action of her character with impeccable charm, and even serves in to portray the role of a narrator, expositing the smaller information directly in a breaking-the-fourth-wall way instead of relying on typical dialogue or visual cues (of which there are many, by the way). Yet, her Enola, for all her wit and strength and resourcefulness, is filled with a sense of abandonment, and has to overcome many struggles (such as a hitman, and no small amount of Victorian-era conservatism) along her way to her objective, giving her a more well-rounded personality. Her Enola is, by far, the most developed and well-written character in the entire film.

Sherlock himself, however, has a rather odd presentation here. Henry Cavill's muscular build contrast heavily with some past portrayals, making them seem almost scrawny in comparison; yet he himself has less to contribute as the famed detective than he does as a brother facing certain turmoil at the perceived treatment of his sister, and the dilemma he faces against Mycroft, who is bent on making Enola 'acceptable'. Ultimately, he falls, rather snugly, into a role of a supportive character who lifts Enola up with a remarkable amount of emotional support.

To close, Enola Holmes is a very refreshing take on the detective series. Rather than creating a token female character, the film chooses to make Enola stand as her own person, with her own personality, strengths and obstacles. This, beyond all others, makes the film a worthwhile watch.