ENOLA HOLMES 2

In ENOLA HOLMES 2 on Netflix, Sherlock Homes’ younger sister takes a missing persons case for a young woman working in a matchstick factory and finds the case has political ramifications connected to a case vexing her brother, Sherlock. ENOLA HOLMES 2 is a fun, exciting mystery adventure with strong moral content and a delightful metaphorical scene referring to the Holy Trinity and Jesus, but it’s marred by a Romantic worldview with some woke politics, revisionist history and feminist elements.

Sherlock’s younger sister, Enola, has something to prove. She wants to be taken seriously as a detective. Enola believes she has the right qualifications, including jujitsu training. She puts her shingle out and is eager for business. One by one, she’s insulted and rejected because she’s a young women in an era where she can’t possibly be taken seriously. One customer even asks, “Is your brother available?” Deflated, Enola’s about to end her pursuit, when a little girl named Bessie pleads for help finding her missing sister, but the sister turns out to be just a kindly young woman who’s taken Bessie under her wing. Enola accepts her first case.

Like the older girl, whose name is Sarah, Bessie works in a matchstick factory run by a greedy tyrant. Enola follows clues that lead her from the dregs of society all the way to the top. She even runs into her brother, Sherlock Holmes himself, who has a vexing case that turns out to be connected to Enola’s case.

The stakes are raised when one of Sarah’s friends turns up murdered, and Enola is framed for the crime.

Sherlock tries to free Enola, but, somehow, the villains have planted Enola’s fingerprints on the murder weapon. So, he seeks out their mother, a feminist rabble rouser, to help Enola escape from prison.

Time is running out, however. Can Enola and Sherlock solve the two cases before more people are killed?

ENOLA HOLMES 2 is an exciting, fun mystery adventure with enough nods to the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle to satisfy all but the most demanding fan. Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill both do a wonderful job as Enola and Sherlock Holmes, though Sherlock here is a more athletic version of the iconic detective.

ENOLA HOLMES 2 has some strong moral elements about exposing corruption in both government and big business and protecting the weak. It also promotes noblesse oblige, the biblical, conservative ideal that requires wealthy and powerful people to help and protect the community, poor and needy around them. Finally, one scene has strong, delightful metaphorical references to the Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ.

However, this positive content is marred by some woke casting of actors of African descent in what was a white culture, the culture of Victorian England. The movie also has some strong revisionist history in that it assumes that the urge to reform society and correct injustices is purely a liberal, leftist one. In reality, conservative political and economic theory allows for the need sometimes to pass reforms and correct severe injustices. The poor treatment of female workers, including teenagers and children, in London matchstick factories was one such injustice.

ENOLA HOLMES 2 also has some strong feminist references. However, they are mitigated by a delightful romance between Enola and a young upper class reformer in the House of Lords. The movie also contains an implied attack on big government corruption.

All in all, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children when it comes to the Netflix production of ENOLA HOLMES 2, which also contains some strong violence.