Enola Holmes

Favourite films of 2020

It’s been a weird year for many reasons and the whole pandemic thing certainly has had an affect on films and when and how they’re released. While I still watched a lot of films throughout the year, there weren’t as many new 2020UK releases. That, along with how this year seems to have gone on forever and it’s hard for me to even remember some of the things I watched and liked months ago, made it a bit difficult to figure out what films I saw and loved this year. Thank goodness for Letterboxd is all I can say.

In no particular order, here are my ten favourite films of 2020.

Enola Holmes
This was an unexpected delight of a film. It’s fun with good performances and a compelling mystery. I really liked the score and how Mille Bobby Brown would break the fourth wall.

Just Mercy
One of the first (and only) films I saw in the cinema this year and I still think about it. Just Mercy is such an important true story and Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx are both incredible.

Misbehaviour
This is such a fun biopic. I love the cast, the humour, the story and how it shows the differences between women and what they’re fighting for in different ways.

The Old Guard
Considering we didn’t get many comic book adaptations this year, The Old Guard was my favourite and one of the best in my opinion. I loved the world and the characters and really hope there’s a sequel as there’s so many interesting elements to this story I’d love to see explored.

Dark Waters
I love an investigative true story about the small guy standing up to the big corporation and Dark Waters is just fantastic. It’s tense, compelling and such an unbelievable true story that kept me hooked.

Da 5 Bloods
The performances in Da 5 Bloods are all a standout and I really liked how the flashbacks had the same older actors in them. It’s a powerful film that tackles some difficult themes with some emotional moments.

Herself
I think this technically might be released in early 2021 but I saw it during the London Film Festival in October, and it affected me so much that I had to include it. It’s heartfelt and heart-breaking and powerful.

Miss Americana
Not that I watched many documentaries this year, but Miss Americana was definitely my favourite. It’s really interesting and while I’ve always liked a lot of Taylor Swift’s songs, Miss Americana made me see her in a whole new light.

The Personal History of David Copperfield
I always think that classics are a bit stuffy and boring, but this adaptation of The Personal History of David Copperfield was so much fun! I loved the costumes, the cast and how the story was told, it’s so quirky and really engaging.

Underwater
I’m a big wuss but I really liked how Underwater built the tension and creepiness. Plus, I thought Kristen Stewart was great in it.

What were some of your favourite films of the year?

REVIEW: Enola Holmes (2020)

When Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown), teenage sister to Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes (Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin respectively), discovers her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) is missing, she sets off to find her. Soon she become entangled with a missing Marquess (Louis Partridge) as she follows the clues and fights to make her own way in the world.

Now Enola Holmes was just delightful! It is based on the book series by Nancy Springer, a series I haven’t read so don’t know how well it fares as an adaptation or to what extent the quirky humour and fourth-wall breaking may be from the novel. Because that’s the thing, the film opens with Enola talking to the camera, giving the audience a rundown on her life and what the immediate mystery is, and throughout the film she makes quips and gestures to the camera to highlight her true feelings about what is going on. Breaking the fourth wall tends to be something you find in comedy films, think Deadpool, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Trading Places, so to have it here, in what is in all intents and purposes a cosy mystery drama just adds something different to the film.

Millie Bobby Brown is brilliant as Enola. She’s funny and headstrong and resourceful, but she also shows the softer side of Enola. Her mother has taught her a lot, both academically and in terms of fighting skills, but she is still quite naïve about the world. She’s lived a sheltered life with her mother so when she disappears, it’s like her life crumbles a bit – especially when Mycroft wants to send her off to a finishing school.

Speaking of Mycroft, I was somewhat bemused by Claflin playing the eldest Holmes especially when Cavill is three years older than him and (no offence to Cavill), he looks younger and more boyish than Cavill – despite the help of a bushy moustache. This is Enola’s time to shine and the Holmes brothers aren’t featured all that much but when the siblings do get to share scenes, either all three together or just two of them, they all work really well together. Mycroft and Sherlock have been absent from Enola’s life for so long that they don’t know her, and she doesn’t really know them, so seeing how they do (or don’t) start to try and understand one another and build connections is interesting and shows different sides to each character.

The whole mystery aspect of Enola Holmes is a lot of fun too, and surprisingly politically. Enola has been raised to be a very modern woman for the early twentieth century and women’s suffrage and the ‘Representation of the People Act’ both play key parts in the two mysteries Enola is investigating.

Enola Holmes is just a delightful and charming film. The tone might not suit everyone, what with its lively score and often unconventional characters, but it’s the kind of film you can sit back and relax as you’re swept up in the adventure. I do hope we get a sequel, even if the more famous faces don’t all make a return. 4/5.