Enola Holmes: Frivolously entertaining expansion of the Holmes canon featuring his sister (!)

https://youtu.be/1d0Zf9sXlHk

This was greater fun than I thought it might be. Its a very pleasant way to pass a couple of hours with your brain largely in ‘rest’ mode. The initial idea is actually more fun than I first thought it would be and Millie Bobbie Brown makes a very appealing heroine - not nearly as infuriatingly perky as such characters often are - and even the occasional remarks to the viewer were not the irritating trope that I feared they would be. Helen B-C is excellent as the very liberated mother while Henry Cavilll is a very decent Holmes

The plot is decently complicated with a number of strands and false leads but it all ties together nicely. And there is the usual smart of at times slightly predictable mixture of personal drama, life and loves, and contemporary political events - where the main characters are, of course, always on the side of the angels - in this case the Great Reform Bill

Visually it is excellent; the English countryside has never looked more archetypally summery while London, thanks to CGI I assume is impressive although with that glossy smoothness that seems to be a characteristic of such modern creations.

So, good clean fun - and I suspect the sequel will be equally effective.

Rebecca: visually gorgeous but dramatically bland, apparently very faithful, version of the Du Maurier classic

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House: Wonderfully tense, slow-burn haunted house/haunted characters film