Six months after saying goodbye to her most iconic role in the Stranger Things finale, Millie Bobby Brown has returned as her other instantly recognisable character in a third Enola Holmes film on Netflix.
This latest outing is helmed by Boiling Point and Adolescence director Philip Barantini (though it isn’t filmed as one shot!) and once again finds Jack Thorne on screenwriting duties for a script he previously teased would tackle British colonialism.
The film begins with Enola travelling to Malta to tie the knot with her beloved Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) but before the ceremony can get underway, several things go awry – not least the kidnapping of her brother Sherlock.
And so Enola – decked out in her wedding dress – is forced to solve another mysterious case, one which brings her into contact with a British brigadier, a Maltese independence fighter and a famous old foe.
Seen the film and need the final moments unpacked? Read on to have the Enola Holmes 3 ending explained.
Enola Holmes 3 ending explained: How was Moriarty responsible?
Anyone who knows anything about Sherlock Holmes knows that there’s one character in particular who tends to behind many of the most puzzling cases: the genius criminal mastermind, Moriarty.
And so, it’s no great surprise that in Enola Homes 3, this franchise’s version of the character – played by Sharon Duncan Brewster – turns out to have been responsible for the whole thing.
To begin with, Enola had been fixated with various clues that Sherlock appeared to have left for her before his disappearance, including the word KHOST and some medals that had belonged to the late Lord Tewkesbury.
Another clue was gained when Enola followed these leads to a soldier who – dying from a gunshot wound – revealed the word WRATH to her. All the while, things escalated around her – with Tewkesbury’s mother also kidnapped and her hotel set on fire.
Eventually, Enola makes a breakthrough when she discovers that Khost is a city in Afghanistan where the elder Tewkesbury had been stationed during the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
While stationed there, he had looted gold with his men (including Jason Watkins’s Brigadier Sampson) before bringing it to Malta to make it seem that it had always been found there. The plan had then been to give the gold to the Crown so it could be used to continue the war effort.
However, Tewkesbury then decided to abandon that plan and sink the ship containing the gold (the ship was called The Wrath of Adeline) on the way to Malta before keeping the new location of the gold hidden (and framing the Maltese allies).
Anyway, It turned out that after Moriarty had been arrested, the Crown had realised they could use her skillset to finally work out where the missing gold was kept.
And so she had got to work, first by manipulating the Holmes and Tewkesbury families into holding the weapon in Malta and then by kidnapping Sherlock and ensuring Enola would be lured into the mystery and unwittingly find the location of the gold for her.
Enola had worked out the location of the gold by remembering a conversation she had had with Tewkesbury in which he had recalled how his father used to tell him a story about hidden treasure in a cave by the sea – and it turned out that very cave is where the gold has been all this time.
How does Enola get the better of Moriarty?
By this point, Enola had not only worked out the location of the gold but also – more crucially – that Moriarty was on her tail.
And so, with help from Watson, Tekwsbury and the Maltese rebels led by Mikiel Mizzi she arranged a plan to trap Moriarty in the caves.
Moriarty initially managed to work her way out of this trap, but when Enola followed her they all end up in the room where the villain had been keeping Sherlock and Lady Tewkesbury captive.
There is an ensuing melee, in which Enola frees Tewkesbury and Sherlock manages to hold Moriarty at gunpoint, although he is talked down from his initial plan to shoot his nemesis by his sister.
Eventually, they agree to have Moriarty handed over to the authorities instead, and the arrest means the full conspiracy is brought into the open, exposing the officials who had recruited Moriarty and the initial looters who had stolen the gold.
Ahead of their wedding, Tewkesbury reveals that the case – and his father’s involvement – has made him decide to renounce his noble title.
He and Enola consequently downsize their nupitals to a far more intimate ceremony, which seems to suit both of them down to the ground – setting them up for what looks like a happily ever after.
Will there be an Enola Holmes 4?
It’s not been confirmed at this stage whether there will be a fourth entry in the franchise – although with ten books in the series, there’s certainly no shortage of source material (even if the films are not direct adaptations of the novels).
The lead duo of Millie Bobby Brown and Louis Partridge certainly seem keen to continue with another case at some point in the future, with the former telling Digital Spy: “I’ll be there if Netflix is.”
It’s worth noting that the third film wasn’t actually confirmed until two years after the second, so it’s possible we might not get any word of another follow-up for some time yet.
As ever, it will likely depend on just how well Enola Holmes 3 performs on Netflix, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for any announcements in the coming weeks and months.
Enola Holmes 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
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