Stranger Things star in new feminist spin on Holmes story

Millie Bobby Brown stars as Enola Holmes who is only a teenager, but already running rings around her older brother Sherlock in this new take on the classic tale.

THREE STARS

Director Harry Bradbeer

Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill

Rating CTC

Running time 123 minutes

Verdict A fresh, feminist spin on a much-loved classic

Behind every great 19th century detective ... is an under-appreciated sister chafing against the constrictions of her too-tight corset.

That’s the thesis behind this revisionist mystery-adventure based on Nancy Springer’s YA book series and starring Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown.

Enola Holmes is only a teenager, but already she can run rings around her older brother Sherlock (a dashing but emotionally unavailable Henry Cavill).

Millie Bobby Brown is Enola Holmes.

When Enola’s widowed mother (Helena Bonham Carter) disappears on the eve of her daughter’s 16th birthday, it doesn’t take the two super-sleuths long to figure out that the unorthodox family matriarch has done so, not by misadventure, but by design.

Having schooled her daughter in jujitsu, cryptography and the physical sciences as well as art and literature, Eudoria Holmes is apparently confident Enola can take care of herself (which might explain why the name she gave her daughter is an anagram for alone.)

Unfortunately, our indefatigable heroine’s humourless older brother Myford (Sam Claflin) is still her legal guardian. And he’s determined to send her to finishing school, where Fiona Shaw’s formidable headmistress will smooth off some of the rough edges.

On the train to London — having successfully given her two brothers the slip — Enola is diverted from her primary mission to be reunited with her mother by a stranger who materialises from a carpet bag in the overhead luggage rack.

Lord Viscount Tewksbury (Louis Partridge) is also attempting to escape the stultifying Victorian conformity his family has planned for him.

Henry Cavill plays Enola Holmes’ older brother Sherlock.

But his aristocratic upbringing, combined with a naturally conflict-averse temperament, leave him physically vulnerable.

When a faceless assassin (Burn Gorman) attempts to push Tewksbury from the moving train, Enola has little choice but to intervene.

And from then on, the pair’s paths become inextricably intertwined.

The filmmakers have a bet both ways with this nascent romance – Enola explicitly acknowledges her mother’s disapproval of such emotional entanglements even as she falls under Tewksbury’s spell. The lack of conventional gender stereotyping, however, mitigates any suggestion that she might need a bloke to succeed.

At times, the film’s message – centred around the passage of the Representation of the People Act 1884, which paved the way for women’s suffrage — gets in the way of the audience’s crime solving pleasure.

But Bobby Brown lends her character a spunky vitality that’s warm and engaging and Bonham Carter adds some emotional edge as the radical Victorian matriarch.

A fresh, contemporary spin on a much-loved classic.

* Screening On Netflix from September 24

THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY

THREE STARS

Director Natalie Krinsky

Starring Geraldine Viswanathan, Dacre Montgomery, Molly Gordon

Rating M

Running time 109 minutes

Verdict Super cute rom-com glues the pieces together

GERALDINE Viswanathan works so hard to sell this ebullient romcom, only a curmudgeon would focus on its clunky gear changes.

Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) oozes good-natured if somewhat indiscriminate sex appeal as her love interest.

And their meet-cute – distraught, she mistakes him for her Uber driver, and unable to persuade his unanticipated passenger otherwise, he gives her a lift her home – gives Bridesmaid’s roadside breath-test a run for its money.

Geraldine Viswanathan and Dacre Montgomery in a scene from The Broken hearts Gallery

The Broken Hearts Gallery tells the story of a serial singleton — Lucy Gulliver (Viswanathan) is a contemporary, North American version of Bridget Jones, only without the body image issues — who hoards souvenirs from past relationships.

After being unceremoniously dumped by her latest boyfriend, Max (Utkarsh Ambudkar), at the opening of a prestigious art exhibition, the New York gallery assistant manages to lose both her dream job and her dignity in the one night.

At which point, her bestie roommates, Nadine and Amanda (Phillipa Soo and Molly Gordon), stage an intervention.

In the interests of Lucy’s physical and mental hygiene, they give her an ultimatum: if she doesn’t divest herself of her maudlin museum of memorabilia, which is threatening to overwhelm the entire apartment, they will do it for her.

And that’s how Lucy finds herself wandering the streets one night with a garbage bag full of emotional detritus.

Second before she engages in an impulsive act of self-sabotage, Nick (Montgomery) re-materialises to save her from herself.

Lucy Gulliver (Viswanathan) is a contemporary, North American version of Bridget Jones, only without the body image issues.

Having already proven himself to be a superlative listener, he takes Lucy back to his half-renovated hotel, where he persuades her to let go of the clothing item she “souvenired” from Max.

And that’s when Lucy’s curatorial skills kick in.

Hanging the tie on a hook on the wall, she conceives of a pop-up space in which people can leave mementos from past relationships.

Supported by social media, the idea quickly takes off.

Contributors’ to-camera testimonies are a nice idea that could have further developed.

While there’s a real poignancy to a story about of an unopened bottle of champagne, the leg cast and taxidermied dog are played purely for laughs.

Writer-director Natalie Krinsky’s feature film debut is a bit too self-conscious to altogether deliver on its promising premise.

The hotel is overly “art-designed” and the obstacles to Nick and Lucy’s relationship — particularly Max — are groaningly formulaic.

But Viswanthan’s irrepressible performance carries the film and she is well-supported by a fresh and engaging ensemble cast.

* IN CINEMAS NOW