Enola Holmes
England, 1884 - a world on the brink of change. On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) wakes to find that her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared, leaving behind an odd assortment of gifts but no apparent clue as to where she's gone or why. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola suddenly finds herself under the care of her brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), both set on sending her away to a finishing school for "proper" young ladies. Refusing to follow their wishes, Enola escapes to search for her mother in London. But when her journey finds her entangled in a mystery surrounding a young runaway Lord (Louis Partridge), Enola becomes a super-sleuth in her own right, outwitting her famous brother as she unravels a conspiracy that threatens to set back the course of history.
Produced on a respectable budget of $21.0M, the film represents a studio production.
4 wins & 11 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Enola Holmes (2020) showcases deliberately positioned narrative architecture, characteristic of Harry Bradbeer's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 3 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.3, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Enola breaks the fourth wall, introducing herself as a wild, independent young woman raised unconventionally by her mother at their countryside estate. She demonstrates her freedom, intelligence, and playful spirit.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 13 minutes when On Enola's sixteenth birthday, she discovers her mother has vanished without explanation, leaving only cryptic gifts and coded messages. This shatters her idyllic world and forces the return of her controlling brothers.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Enola makes the active choice to escape to London disguised as a boy, rejecting the finishing school and taking control of her own destiny. She boards the train to London, committing to find her mother herself., moving from reaction to action.
At 62 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat False defeat: Enola is captured and forcibly taken to Miss Harrison's finishing school. Her freedom is stripped away, and she's trapped in the very prison she tried to escape. The stakes raise as both her mother's mystery and Tewkesbury's danger escalate., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 91 minutes (74% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Enola finds her mother at last, but Eudoria refuses to return and tells Enola she must make her own path without her. Enola's dream of reunion dies. Simultaneously, she realizes Tewkesbury will be murdered if she doesn't act. She faces her greatest loss and loneliness., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 97 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. Enola synthesizes her mother's lessons with her own values, realizing she can be independent AND choose to help others. She deduces that Tewkesbury's grandmother is the real assassin and races to save him, fully embracing her identity as a detective who cares., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Enola Holmes's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Enola Holmes against these established plot points, we can identify how Harry Bradbeer utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Enola Holmes within the adventure genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional adventure films include Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Bad Guys and Zoom.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Enola breaks the fourth wall, introducing herself as a wild, independent young woman raised unconventionally by her mother at their countryside estate. She demonstrates her freedom, intelligence, and playful spirit.
Theme
Eudoria tells Enola: "Don't be thrown off course by other people. Especially me." This encapsulates the film's theme about finding one's own path while navigating relationships and independence.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Enola's unconventional upbringing with her mother Eudoria, who taught her science, jujitsu, literature, and critical thinking. Her brothers Sherlock and Mycroft have been absent. The estate is their sanctuary from Victorian society's expectations.
Disruption
On Enola's sixteenth birthday, she discovers her mother has vanished without explanation, leaving only cryptic gifts and coded messages. This shatters her idyllic world and forces the return of her controlling brothers.
Resistance
Mycroft arrives and immediately tries to "civilize" Enola, planning to send her to finishing school. She resists, decode her mother's clues, and realizes she must escape. Sherlock shows subtle support but won't openly defy Mycroft. Enola debates whether to conform or flee.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Enola makes the active choice to escape to London disguised as a boy, rejecting the finishing school and taking control of her own destiny. She boards the train to London, committing to find her mother herself.
Mirror World
Enola meets Lord Tewkesbury on the train - a young nobleman also running from his prescribed path. He represents her thematic mirror: someone else choosing freedom over expectation, teaching her that she doesn't have to be alone in her rebellion.
Premise
Enola navigates London's mysteries, searching for her mother while evading Lestrade and her brothers. She saves Tewkesbury multiple times, decodes clues, discovers her mother's connection to the suffragette movement, and learns to operate independently in a dangerous world. The "fun and games" of being a teenage detective.
Midpoint
False defeat: Enola is captured and forcibly taken to Miss Harrison's finishing school. Her freedom is stripped away, and she's trapped in the very prison she tried to escape. The stakes raise as both her mother's mystery and Tewkesbury's danger escalate.
Opposition
Enola endures the finishing school while planning escape. She realizes Tewkesbury is in mortal danger and must choose between finding her mother or saving him. The assassin Linthorn closes in. She escapes the school but faces increasing danger and moral complexity.
Collapse
Enola finds her mother at last, but Eudoria refuses to return and tells Enola she must make her own path without her. Enola's dream of reunion dies. Simultaneously, she realizes Tewkesbury will be murdered if she doesn't act. She faces her greatest loss and loneliness.
Crisis
Enola processes her mother's rejection and the realization that she truly is on her own. She must decide who she wants to be: someone who works alone like Sherlock, or someone who fights for others. Her dark night of wrestling with independence versus connection.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Enola synthesizes her mother's lessons with her own values, realizing she can be independent AND choose to help others. She deduces that Tewkesbury's grandmother is the real assassin and races to save him, fully embracing her identity as a detective who cares.
Synthesis
Enola confronts Linthorn and the grandmother at Basilwether, using all her skills - jujitsu, deduction, courage - to save Tewkesbury. She defeats the assassin, exposes the grandmother's plot, and proves herself as a detective. Sherlock helps her gain freedom from Mycroft's control.
Transformation
Enola establishes herself as a detective in London, on her own terms. She breaks the fourth wall one final time, confident and self-assured, having found her path. Unlike the opening where she was alone, she now has chosen connections - Tewkesbury, Sherlock - while maintaining her independence.