Enola Holmes 3 Review: Franchise Loses Steam
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- Enola Holmes 3 marks the franchise's third Netflix installment after the series originated at Warners and was sold to the streamer during the pandemic.
- Jack Thorne returns as screenwriter, bringing Philip Barantini — director of Adolescence — on board to replace Harry Bradbeer, who directed the first two films.
- The plot follows Enola's wedding to Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) on Malta, which is disrupted when her brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill, in a glorified cameo) is kidnapped.
- Helena Bonham Carter returns as Enola's mother and Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Moriarty, but the review finds the mystery "far too plodding and far too simple" to engage.
- The film runs under 100 minutes — notably shorter than the prior two installments, which both exceeded two hours — and the reviewer reads the brevity as a sign of depleted enthusiasm rather than tighter storytelling.
- Millie Bobby Brown carries the film again, but the review says she "can't figure out how big or small to go with her adult reactions," echoing the long-running challenge of maturing child actors.
Why it matters: The reviewer explicitly suggests Netflix "might be wise to leave her be," framing Enola Holmes 3 as symptomatic of the streamer's broader struggle to sustain original movie franchises — the same problem that sank Red Notice, The Grey Man and the studio's most expensive film ever, The Electric State. A franchise that previously delivered two unqualified smashes now being dismissed as "fusty franchise filler" is a material signal for Netflix's film pipeline, which has few multi-film hits to show for its spending.
