Movie Review: Enola Holmes 3 (2026)
Synopsis: Despite her brother, Sherlock, objecting and planting seeds of doubt about giving up her name, legacy and freedom, Enola Holmes agrees to marry Tewkesbury in Malta. However, as she is traveling to her wedding, she learns Sherlock has been kidnapped. Fearful for her brother's safety, she puts off the wedding and tries to decipher the case Sherlock had been investigating in secret. The case then becomes more puzzling when Tewkesbury's mother is also abducted.
Who's in it? The movie stars Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Louis Partridge, Helena Bonham Carter and Sharon Duncan-Brewster.
Review: While I liked the first two Enola Holmes movies, I did have some doubts about a third one, wondering if Netflix maybe went to the well one time too often. However, I decided to watch Enola Holmes 3 this morning, and it turned out to be pleasantly entertaining.
The thing I liked most about this movie was the surprisingly complicated mystery. There was no secret who was behind the kidnappings because the movie made sure to reveal Moriarity (Duncan-Brewster) was the main villain relatively early on. However, Moriarity's motives weren't immediately clear, nor were the people who were her accomplices, leaving quite a few things in doubt, especially since there seemed to be no clear reason why she would want to kidnap Lady Tewkesbury (Hattie Morahan) too.
I also liked how the movie, like the previous films, mixed in some of Britain's complicated history, not sugarcoating some of the darker sides, like forced colonization while also incorporating them into the main plot. This added to the overall mystery because Enola (Brown) had to determine how much of that history had to do with the case and how much of it was a red herring, especially since Moriarity was every bit as cunning and deceptive as the literary character should be.
As was also the case with the previous films, the movie does a good job of balancing seriousness with comedy, adding just enough of the latter to keep it from getting too dark but not to the point it diminishes the story. It keeps the film fun to watch throughout, especially the scenes with her mother (Carter).
I even found I liked the secondary story about the conflict Enola felt toward marrying Tewkesbury (Partridge) because it did keep a lingering doubt about if she could marry him without being forced by society and her new title to give up her legacy after working so hard to build it. It was one of those movies that could end in a wedding or could be one that could see her and Tewkesbury going separate ways (or at least staying unmarried). Overall, I have to say I liked how the film found a clever and unexpected workaround.
Final Opinion: I had my doubts, but it turned out to be a solid and entertaining third installment that I enjoyed watching and would recommend.
My Grade: A
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Here are my reviews of the previous two movies:
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