ON THE SCREEN
WE all know about Sherlock Holmes’s brother Mycroft, who appears in four of the canonical stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. But we know nothing much of any other members of his family, which is why, over the years, various other books, films and TV shows have revealed more siblings. In this one, we are introduced to Enola (Millie Bobby Brown), the younger sister of Mycroft (Sam Claflin) and Sherlock (Henry Cavill) who has inherited their brains but was left behind when the brothers left home to be raised by their eccentric mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). When Eudoria vanishes on Enola’s 16th birthday, the brothers come to make sure Enola is looked after. While Mycroft wants to pack her off to finishing school, Sherlock is not so sure and Enola takes matters into her own hands, running away to look for her mother and getting involved in solving her first mystery. As Enola, Brown is irresistible, and there are some great recreations of Victorian England in this engaging romp. TROY LENNON
IN World War II, young GI, Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgard) sees the horrific sight of a comrade crucified by the enemy. The trauma leads him to a strange interpretation of Christianity, which has a terrible effect on his son Arvin (Tom Holland), who concludes that “there are a lot of no good sons of bitches out there” in the world and none is to be trusted. He tries to protect his deeply religious “stepsister”, Lenora (Eliza Scanlen), the abandoned daughter of a missing delusional preacher Roy (Harry Melling) and his too-trusting wife Helen (Mia Wasikowska), who met a terrible fate at Roy’s hands because of that trust. When a new preacher, Preston Teagarden (Robert Pattinson), comes to town, Arvin can see through his glib oratory and his urge to protect those he loves from corruption and evil comes to the fore. Every character is afflicted by some kind of evil; some have given in to it, others believe they are fighting it. Some look to religion for solace, others misuse it for their own ends. Compelling. TROY LENNON