Story
Following the triumph of solving her first case, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) is determined to emerge from behind the shadow of her brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill), and set up her own successful detective agency. For a young woman in Victorian era London, this proves to be more difficult than Enola could have ever imagined.
She is about to give up and shut down shop when a penniless ‘matchstick girl’ called Bessie (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss) enlists Enola’s help to find her missing sister, Sarah (Hannah Dodd). Upon taking the case Enola finds herself thrust into a mystery that spans all strata of society, from the downtrodden factory workers who are dying from supposed cases of typhus, to the uppermost classes who have woven such a tangled web that Sherlock himself is having trouble unravelling the mystery.
When a clue leads Enola to the scene of a murder she is pursued by the evil superintendent, Grail (David Thewlis), and his corrupt police officers who are more interested in protecting the powerful than in the carriage of justice.
With the help of her long-time love interest, Lord Tewkesbury (Lewis Partridge), and a multitude of impoverished women, Enola and Sherlock may just solve their respective cases and help make history.
Themes
Gender inequality; societal segregation; corruption; greed; extortion; blackmail; murder
Violence
Enola Holmes 2 has some violence. For example:
- Corrupt policemen chase Enola through the streets and threaten her. She turns, ready to fight, but then finds another way out.
- There is a quick sequence of flashbacks, which include glimpses of jujitsu fighting and a man getting his head plunged into water.
- Enola’s mother blows up a mail box on a London street.
- When she arrives at an apartment following a clue, Enola finds a girl stabbed through the chest and bleeding.
- Enola kicks a police officer and pushes another out of the way as she races to escape their custody.
- A policeman falls off a drain pipe and Enola slips off a roof, clutching a drain pipe, before she manages to get into a window.
- Superintendent Grail grabs Enola by the neck and slams her against a wall. He then threatens to hang her.
- A burly woman shoves Enola into a circle of prisoners who begin to surround her. Enola raises her fists, prepared to fight but then a wall is blasted out of the way.
- Enola’s mother throws a smoke bomb at the policemen who are chasing them and trying to run their carriage off the road.
- Enola’s mother prepares another bomb and Enola throws it into the police buggy, causing the officers to crash.
- Superintendent Grail fires multiple shots at Enola and her mother as they try to escape. He misses but rams a wooden shaft through the carriage wheel, causing them to crash and overturn as police surround them.
- Enola, her mother and a friend fight back, head butting, punching, kicking and flipping the officers over. The officers attack with swords but are again overpowered by the women who walk away and explode their wagon as they leave.
- Enola is slapped in the face repeatedly.
- Someone attacks Enola from behind. She is seized and searched.
- A man is found dead.
- Enola punches Lord Tewkesbury.
- Enola discovers that girls are dying from working in a matchstick factory.
- A man holds a knife to Bessie’s neck. She bites the man holding her.
- Superintendent Grail tries to shoot Sherlock and Enola.
- Lord Tewkesbury fights with a police officer, punching and kicking him and later sword fighting him.
- Sherlock swordfights a corrupt police inspector.
- Superintendent Grail shouts at Enola, captures her and tries to shoot her at close range but the gun is empty. He then slices her hand, punches her in the face and stabs her through the chest with a knife. She punches him back as they both realise the knife was fake. Grail then hits Enola in the head with a heavy, metal hook. As she fights to remain conscious, Enola sees a way to escape and rolls off the plank of wood she is laying on and lands on a pulley. This causes the superintendent to fly upwards, smashing his head into the ceiling and crashing back down to the floor below where he is clearly dead.
Sexual references
There are no sexual references in Enola Holmes 2.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Enola Holmes 2 has some substance use. For example:
- Patrons drink in a club.
- A character smokes a pipe.
- Sherlock is thrown out into the street after having a disagreement over wine and who it belonged to. He is clearly drunk and Enola must help him home.
Nudity and sexual activity
Enola Holmes 2 has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- There is some flirtation with fans.
- There is a brief discussion of an affair.
- Enola and Lord Tewkesbury kiss in a carriage.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Enola Holmes 2.
Coarse language
Enola Holmes 2 has some coarse language and name calling, including ‘nincompoop’, ‘lying little Toe Rag’, ‘bloody woman’ and ‘coward’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Enola Holmes 2 is the sequel to the Netflix original Enola Holmes. The film is a dramatic adventure with some connection to historical events and includes a diverse range of characters with female role models. The film will be best enjoyed by tween and teen audiences. We recommend parental guidance for children under 13 years.
These are the main messages from Enola Holmes 2:
- Too many people make the mistake of trying to fit into the world around them but no matter how lost, unworthy or invisible you may feel, if you remain true to yourself you will always find your way.
- Teamwork is more powerful than independence; and sometimes it just takes one small thing to change the rules of the world.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children are courage, determination, teamwork, ingenuity and helpfulness.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:
- Disempowering women and refusing to see their capacity or potential simply because of their gender.
- Putting profits before people and taking brutal actions to safeguard secrets.
- Historical events and reforms, including the Match Girl Strike that parts of this story are based on.