As I write this review — and before that, as I watched the film — it is apparent to me that Enola Holmes 3 dropped the ball on one of the movie series’ biggest assets: music composer Daniel Pemberton. Specifically, because of its failure to utilise the defining version of the theme One Flame to Start a Fire from Enola Holmes 2.

The immediately recognisable orchestral theme has been the backbone of every part since the first Enola Holmes (specifically the tracks ‘Enola Holmes (Wild Child)’ and ‘Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes’).

Regardless of whether a film features songs, the background score plays a major role in grounding the narrative and aligning the audience’s emotions with the story. The near-absence of a recognisable theme here is a let-down (it only briefly appears during the end credits). The rest of the soundtrack, composed by Aaron May and David Ridley, is just serviceable.

This serviceability isn’t limited to the soundtrack. The direction by Philip Barantini — who directed Netflix’s brilliant series Adolescence — and the screenplay by series regular Jack Thorne are also serviceable at best.

Enola Holmes 3 trades mystery and wit for a predictable romance, resulting in a sequel that feels competent but uninspired

The grandeur, along with any sense of mystery and intrigue, is lost in this next phase of Enola’s life — a narrative departure not found in Nancy Springer’s book series, The Enola Holmes Mysteries (the second film also took a sidestep from the books).

Here, Enola (Millie Bobby Brown, once again serviceable) agrees to marry the Duke of Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) in Malta. Before the nuptials, first Enola’s brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill), and then Tewkesbury’s mother (Hattie Morahan), are kidnapped.

Since a Holmes does not simply disappear without leaving a clue for another Holmes to decipher, Enola, Tewkesbury and the series version of the nearly entirely useless Dr Watson (Himesh Patel) start a not-so-wild search that leads them to a lot of wrongful British doings in the Crown’s colonies (Malta was a British colony until 1964).

Enola, with some help from her rebel mother (played by Helena Bonham Carter), eventually finds a pirate treasure chest and the series’ uninspired villain, antagonist Moriarty (Sharon Duncan-Brewster). For those unfamiliar with the prior movies, this is a female-led story, so the villain, Moriarty, has been gender-swapped.

Duncan-Brewster is clearly a fine actress who hams her way through the role alongside the rest of the cast. While the overacting may not be that apparent with others, one cannot disregard it in the case of Cavill who, seemingly like everyone, is told to punch up the emotions a notch.

Cavill also seems to have spent very little time on set this time round. Notice how he is almost never in the same frame as anyone else, and rarely shares dialogue with anyone but Bobby Brown.

Thorne’s screenplay and the film as a whole are standard, unimaginative fare, banking on Enola and Tewkesbury’s romance and a plot point that puts her beau in the lead to pull the story through. Like many sequels, it gets the job done — though barely.

Streaming on Netflix, Enola Holmes 3 is rated suitable for ages 13 and over (equivalent to the PG-13 rating). Parents needn’t worry, it’s as PG-13 as it gets

The writer is Icon’s primary film reviewer

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 19th, 2026