Enola Holmes 2 is the movie equivalent of a pop-up picture book

With a charismatic lead and a compelling plot, Netflix’s sequel to Enola Holmes is likeable, sassy and fun.

The game is afoot in Enola Holmes. Picture: Alex Bailey/Netflix

Even before the credits rolled on the first Enola Holmes movie released in 2020, it was obvious the Millie Bobby Brown-led title had franchise potential.

It has a likeable heroine with sass and vulnerability, a charismatic star with international appeal and a mystery-driven format with endless story possibilities. Plus, it is Sherlock Holmes adjacent and that character’s appeal has endured for 135 years.

More Enola Holmes movies were a no-brainer – especially after it was revealed 76 million Netflix accounts watched the film in the first four weeks after release.

Two years later, Enola is back and the sequel is every much the cinematic equivalent of a pop-up picture book.

That’s not meant as derision. Picture books are fun, engaging and imaginative, and pop-up ones are even more dazzling, evoking fleeting moments of cooing.

It may be popcorn – fluffy and insubstantial – but damn if it isn’t enjoyable in the moment. More of that buttery goodness, yes please.

Enola Holmes 2 is streaming now on Netflix. Picture: Alex Bailey/Netflix

Enola (Brown) is trying to cement herself as a detective but finds it difficult to be taken seriously by prospective clients. Too young! Too girlish! Never mind her superior deductive reasoning or her jujitsu skills. They all want to know if her brother (Henry Cavill) is available.

When the young Bessie (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss) comes to her for help in locating her missing sister Sarah (Hannah Dodd), Enola becomes embroiled in a case involving a matchstick factory, corrupt officials, blackmail and extortion and a secret lover.

It’s a compelling case, one with loose connections to a historical event that propelled forward workers’ rights and women’s rights – all very on-brand for the thoroughly modern Enola Holmes, and thematically on-point for a character trying to establish herself in a society that dismisses her.

The sequel features more of Brown’s fourth-wall breaking, directly addressing the audience with knowing looks and letting us in on her thoughts. It’s a device that’s been, to put it conservatively, heavily used since it was popularised by Fleabag, and this is one of the few instances where it works.

Brown easily commands the viewer’s empathy and the disconnect between the Victorian era setting and Enola’s anachronistic energy actually helps to sell the meta technique.

She and Cavill also have a playful chemistry as the sleuthing siblings. Cavill here is much more interesting than he is as Clark Kent/Superman, even though Enola Holmes’ producers have had to dial back Sherlock’s personality so as to not fall afoul of the eccentricities of copyright law.

Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill have a playful chemistry. Picture: Alex Bailey/Netflix © 2022

But director Harry Breadbeer and screenwriter Jack Thorne still understand this is Enola’s story and don’t make the mistake of centring Sherlock in the same way Enola’s prospective clients wanted.

Where Enola Holmes 2 doesn’t quite live up everything it could be is that its production values can seem budget. Everything is a little too colourful but flat, even compared to the first movie.

The original film was made with a theatrical release in mind, before it was sold to Netflix during the 2020 lockdowns, and maybe more care – or money – was invested then to make sure it looked great on a big screen.

This follow-up was made for an at-home audience in mind so perhaps that’s why it’s visually underwhelming and small. It looks like a TV show and not a cinema release. But it’s not a dealbreaker considering it was never meant for the multiplex.

It still retains its crackling spirit. It’s also very much banking on Netflix’s appetite for the serialised Enola Holmes story – if the mid-credits are anything to go by, there will be more to come and who could really object to that?

Rating: 3/5

Enola Holmes 2 is streaming now on Netflix