Sherlock Holmes’ teenage sister Enola is forced to turn investigator, and the best way to do that in Victorian England is to disguise oneself as something entirely unexpected – in her case an elegant young lady.
It all looks a hoot, though I hope – despite Mrs Holmes vanishing early on – we get to see a lot more of her, because her scenes with Enola in the trailer look damn good fun <twirls moustache>.
Here’s the rather long synopsis:
England, 1884 – a world on the brink of change. On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) wakes to find that her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared, leaving behind an odd assortment of gifts but no apparent clue as to where she’s gone or why. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola suddenly finds herself under the care of her brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), both set on sending her away to a finishing school for “proper” young ladies. Refusing to follow their wishes, Enola escapes to search for her mother in London. But when her journey finds her entangled in a mystery surrounding a young runaway Lord (Louis Partridge), Enola becomes a super-sleuth in her own right, outwitting her famous brother as she unravels a conspiracy that threatens to set back the course of history.
Enola Holmes is based on the book series by Nancy Springer.
Enola Holmes will launch on Netflix on 23 September 2020. It’s directed by Harry Bradbeer from a screenplay by Jack Thorne, and co-stars Susan Wokoma, Adeel Akhtar, Fiona Shaw, Frances de la Tour and Burn Gorman.
By the way, the Conan Doyle estate sued Netflix and others, claiming copyright infringement – apparently although stories about Sherlock Holmes written before 1923 are out of copyright, only those stories written between 1923 and 1927 portray Holmes as having emotions; and in the film, too, Sherlock Holmes has emotions. I think so anyway. I’m not a lawyer, and all that. Check out this article in the Hollywood Reporter about the case, from June.