With Enola Holmes 2 releasing on Netflix this Friday, Millie Bobby Brown picks one Taylor Swift song that perfectly describes her sleuthing character. Based on Nancy Springer's book series, Enola Holmes 2 features the return of much of the first film's cast, including Brown as the titular heroine, Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, Louis Partridge as Viscount Tewkesbury, Adeel Akhtar as Inspector Lestrade, Susie Wokoma as the judo master Edith, and Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes. The original director, Harry Bradbeer, and screenwriter Jack Thorne have also returned on the sequel.
Enola Holmes 2 debuts November 4 on Netflix, just two weeks after Taylor Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights, debuted to much fanfare and critical acclaim on October 21. Brown is a huge Swift fan herself as the two met backstage during the Reputation tour in 2018 and posted a cute selfie together online. The ties between the Enola Holmes star and the singer-songwriter go further than that, as Brown's Stranger Things co-star, Sadie Sink, starred in All Too Well: The Short Film last year.
During a recent interview with Screen Rant, Brown was asked to pick one Taylor Swift album or song that perfectly describes Enola Holmes. The actor responded with "The Man," a song off Swift's 2019 album, Lover. Read Brown's explanation for choosing the song below:
"The Man" on the Lover album. It explains itself really. If you actually watch the music video, it's Taylor dressed up as a man, and it's like what she would do if she was a man. I think Enola would love to be a man because she'd know that she could get further in life. I think it's a very good song.
How Enola Holmes Dives Into Themes Of Sexism
As Brown explains, "The Man" is the perfect Swift song to describe Enola Holmes. Through the song's lyrics, Swift plays with the idea of gender perception and ponders how all her accomplishments and mistakes would be perceived differently if she were a man. Swift takes this idea one step further in "The Man" music video, as Brown mentions, by dressing up like a man. In Enola Holmes, Brown's titular heroine is faced with a similar struggle growing up in the shadow of her older brother, the famous Sherlock Holmes. Despite being equally intelligent as Sherlock, Enola is forced to attend a reform school due to her rebellious nature, where she is taught "proper manners" and to perform "womanly duties" like embroidery.
Enola Holmes 2 will dive further into themes of sexism through its eponymous heroine who defies the social norms for women of her time, but also through the mystery she is tasked with solving. Enola Holmes 2's trailers have revealed that the titular detective-for-hire will be tasked with solving the mystery of a missing matchstick girl, shining a light on the seedy industrial underbelly in London during the 1800s in which workers, often young girls, had to endure poor working conditions. The film's feminist message will be on full display when Enola Holmes 2 releases on Netflix later this week.
