If you told me I’d find myself invested in a movie based on a spinoff book series about Sherlock Holmes’s little sister, I wouldn’t have believed you. The concept is just so overdone in forms of literature and film: the unknown sibling in a famous family. I thought this movie would’ve been so blasé or unoriginal so my expectations were fairly low despite the all-star cast. Boy, was I wrong. The movie was phenomenal!

The movie follows the titular character, Enola Holmes, on an adventure to find her mother, who went missing on Enola’s 16th birthday. Her brothers, the infamous Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft, return from London to take care of Enola when they suddenly decide that they might need to send her to a finishing school, a school to shape young ladies into proper women and introduce them into society-which Enola hates the idea of.

Enola runs away and sets out an journey where she discovers the truth behind her mother, and finds herself involved in the case of the “missing” marquess, Viscount Tewkesbury. Throughout, she gets an understanding of herself and the real world around her.

It’s a story of self discovery, a story of woman’s rights, a story of family and friendships, a story of changes.

As mentioned, I adored this movie. Definitely a new guilty pleasure of mine. This movie had action and evoked feelings of sadness and joy for the characters as I watched everything unfold. It was everything I wanted to see in a movie. A strong female lead excellently played by Millie Bobby Brown and supporting cast like Henry Cavil as Sherlock, Sam Claflin as Mycroft, Helena Bonham Carter as Enola’s mother Eudoria and newcomer Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury were spectacular! They portrayed such raw emotions in intense scenes and brought life to all their characters.

Though, as much as I liked it, I had a few problems. Certain parts of the movie seemed to completely forget about Enola’s mother or some of the other smaller characters like Edith, a black woman who owns a tea shop but also is a major advocate for the suffrage movement. She runs her own business and teaches young ladies to fight, which in Enola’s story could’ve been used to teach Enola more how to fight and not having her figure it all out on her own. She didn’t serve much of a purpose to the plot other than to be some exposition on Enola’s mother and advance Enola’s thought of “I can fight and be free.” Thankfully, this happens only far and few between, making it easy for me to overlook.

Also, there is a  constant theme that can be interpreted from some of Enola’s actions got on my nerves: “I’m not like other girls.” It’s a phrase mocked throughout on the internet about girls who think they’re quirky and different. This is shown when Enola states that she can’t “embroider” but she can “fight.”

However, during this time period it was uncommon to see a young woman fight, it was also during a time where the woman’s suffrage movement was starting. Many women didn’t want to be in this perfect bubble society created for them, making Enola not that unique in the grand scheme. I tended to ignore that theme and focus on what the movie was actually trying to convey: a young girl who just wanted to be herself.

Overall, the movie is a fun adventure for all ages to watch and feel empowered. Especially for young girls, who get to see that women can do all sorts of things, and that no man can hold them back.