Enola Holmes 3

This beloved franchise’s third installment still provides the same smart fun.

That it’s Enola’s wedding day (who else but Tewkesbury?) and that she’s careening wildly in a coach—begins the rambunctious pace. Something’s amiss, and people like big brother Sherlock are going missing. Good thing Enola can say with confidence, “A Holmes does not disappear without leaving clues for a Holmes.”

Girl power is the movie’s slogan, and if the action scenes are silly at times, the movie also makes a statement of value: a young miss can be as smart as her famously smart brother.

Of course, part of the delight of any franchise is seeing the same actors inhabit the same characters. Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown plays the audacious Enola well with those trademark fourth-wall glances. An award-winning British actress, Brown was only 14 when she was named in the Time magazine list of 100 Most Influential People.

Louis Partridge plays Lord Tewkesbury with a boyish feeling. This English actor’s older work includes Medici and Paddington 2. In this movie, Tewkesbury is still young but must make some far-ranging decisions. Will he?

Henry Cavill plays a brilliant Sherlock who still has things to learn, and Helena Bonham Carter reprises her thunder-clap force of a character.

Himesh Patel, familiar from Yesterday and The Odyssey, steals scenes as wise Dr. Watson. His role has expanded here in this third installment, and his impact is noteworthy.

Proverbs for life are stated quietly throughout the movie: “Look at what’s in front of you, yes, but do not forget to look behind that front.” Enola is smart enough to heed the coaching she receives.

One theme is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s not a stretch to apply this ethic, the Golden Rule, that Christ repeats from Leviticus, to this movie.

While the movie might be too intense for children with its theme of political corruption, it offers teens and adults this franchise’s usual spritely fun. (Netflix)