The game's on the other foot!

FILM REVIEW

Enola Holmes

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill Director: Henry Bradbeer

Duration: 2 h 3 m

Available on: Netflix

Henry Cavill is the latest of more than 100 actors to portray the famous detective Sherlock Holmes on film or television. It's a list that includes Basil Rathbone in the 1940s and Robert Downey Jr. in the 2000s, though I've always been partial to Russell Johnson as “Inspector Sherlock” on an old episode of Gilligan's Island.

Millie Bobby Brown is, however, the very first performer to play Holmes's sister, Enola. And before you get all worked up about that bit of familial embellishment, recall that Sherlock Holmes never mentioned his brother Mycroft (here played by Sam Claflin) until the man showed up at his Baker Street digs in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter — about 22 stories (and two of the four novels) into the 56 short stories of the Conan Doyle canon.

Brown, famous for her breakout in Stranger Things, is a lively, almost Whovian-esque protagonist, often dashing about and frequently breaking the fourth wall to wink at or address viewers. At one point she goes so far as to ask us: “Do YOU have any ideas?”

Brought up alone — Enola spelled backwards! — by her mother (Helena Bonham Carter in flashbacks), Enola finds herself thrust into the care of her two brothers when Mrs. Holmes mysteriously vanishes. Sherlock is sympathetic to her desire to play detective and find their mother, but Mycroft decides she needs refinement, and turns her over to a strict governess (Fiona Shaw).

Her subsequent escape puts her in the same train carriage as the young Lord Tewksbury (Louis Partridge), who makes an unlikely appearance from inside a carpetbag, and carries himself like a young Timothy Chalamet — which seems a bit like plagiarism since it's also exactly what Chalamet continues to do these days. Clearly smitten, Enola also decides this floppy-haired fop needs a bit of rescuing, even as she continues to search for her missing mother.

Enola Holmes is based on the first of prolific writer Nancy Springer's young adult mystery series, The Case of the Missing Marquess, which means the story has built-in sequel potential should this one prove popular. And there's no reason for it to founder. Brown is an engaging guide through the world of Victorian Britain, and the underlying themes of the show — nascent 19th-century feminism, voting enfranchisement, etc. — make the tone relatable, if a touch anachronistic.

Various mysteries, cryptographies and perils pile up and intersect nicely in Jack Thorne's adaptation. The young detective even has her own catchphrase: “Our future is up to us!” Though she's not above stealing her brother's line that “the game is a afoot.” Just as she isn't shy about matching wits and ju-jitsu moves with him, Mycroft, her governess, police inspector Lestrade and anyone else who gets in her way.

And while circumstances sometimes require her to dress like a boy to disguise herself or gain entrance into places where a lady wouldn't go, her sartorial tool box also includes widow's weeds (people avoid lingering around women in mourning) and far fancier clothes. She even learns the hard way that a bust-enhancing whalebone corset can if you're lucky deflect a knife attack. I'll wager not even Sherlock Holmes knew that. ∏∏•½