Enola Holmes 2 Director Teases A Darker Story For The Netflix Sequel
Enola Holmes 2 director Harry Bradbeer talks about the tone of the upcoming mystery sequel, saying it’ll have a grittier feel than its predecessor. The film is set to premiere on November 4 on Netflix, with stars Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter reprising their roles. The movies are based on a series of books by author Nancy Springer.
Enola Holmes 2 will take place sometime after the events of the first film, with the titular heroine (Brown) operating her own detective agency, where she’s approached by a young woman who needs help finding her missing sister. Along the way, Holmes will have to work with her older and much more famous brother Sherlock (Cavill) as she dives deeper into the throes of nineteenth-century London. The marketing of Enola Holmes 2 suggests the movie will put an emphasis on exploring the relationship between the Holmes siblings.
In an interview with Netflix Queue, Bradbeer says how the film will have a darker tone than the original to push Holmes out of her comfort zone. Bradbeer says the plot was inspired by the true story of the Match Girl’s Strike of 1888, which saw 1400 employees walk out of their jobs due to dangerous working conditions. Bradbeer says this historical event allows Holmes to meet characters her own age that are of a lower class, challenging her expectations of the world around her. Read his quote below:
We wanted this to be more of a grown-up film, with a grittier, more dangerous story. We wanted to tell a story that brought Enola into contact with people outside her background and class by introducing her to working girls of her own age. That was something I was very excited about. And so that’s where the match factory idea came in.
Due to the popularity of the first film, Enola Holmes 2 has its work cut out for it if it wants to expand on the first film’s success. Having Holmes deal with darker, more complex issues would be an organic way for the character to grow while maintaining her plucky spirit and mystery-solving chops. It’s hard to gauge exactly what the film’s plot will entail, due to Bradbeer straying away from the source material, but his confidence in a darker tone is exactly the right move for the sequel.
Any good sequel has to use the first film as a jumping-off point to tell a more ambitious story using already-established characters and settings. Furthermore, any good young adult series knows that it has to age with its audience, and Bradbeer’s plan to create a grittier film is in line with those ideas that make a good sequel. Enola Holmes 2 may not be a slam dunk yet, but the pieces are in line to create a follow-up that expands on the first film in new and interesting ways.
Source: Netflix Queue
