Picture Credits: Netflix
Philip Barantini takes over directing duties for Enola Holmes 3. He entered the world of adventure and sleuthing following his work on the acclaimed Netflix series Adolescence. The director reunites with its screenwriter, Jack Thorne, for another case for Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) to solve.
Barantini and Thorne take their hero to Malta, where she’s to be wed, but she plans a change following the disappearance of Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill).
Familiar and new characters enter the picture. Throughout making the sequel, Steven Spielberg, as well as his daughter, was on his mind. As the director told What’s On Netflix, both inspired Enola Holmes 3.
How important was it to you to make a swashbuckling detective movie?
Well, you know what? I have always wanted to do something that my daughter can watch. She’s nine, and this opportunity came about, and I jumped at it with open arms. One of my favorite movies of all time is The Goonies. Not to say it’s similar, but that sense of adventure and going on this journey was amazing for me. I don’t want to be put in a box. These are the kinds of things that I make. I want to make an array of things, and I want to just have fun when I’m doing it.
Not surprising to learn The Goonies is your favorite movie. While making Enola Holmes 3, did you think, OK, how did that movie and others like it make me feel as a kid, and how do I try to recapture that?
Absolutely. I grew up in the ’80s, and Amblin was literally all I ever watched. Those kinds of movies, I don’t think we make them anymore. It’s few and far between. Steven Spielberg is a master.
I want to watch movies with my daughter and be able to talk about them. I want her to talk about them with her friends, and I want her to go back and watch movies. We watched the first two Enola Holmes movies together, and we did exactly that.
Enola Holmes 3. (L to R) Director Philip Barantini and Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury on the set of Enola Holmes 3. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix ©2026.
So it sounds like it was a quick yes as far as directing goes.
When the opportunity came around, I was like, I have to make this film for her. Obviously, the script was great, and getting to work with Jack again, getting to work with Millie and all of the cast, was a dream. It was special. She got to come on set, and she was in the movie a little bit. She played a small role in it, my daughter.
What challenges did you want to see Enola face this time around?
I think Enola Holmes as a character is relatable to a lot of young women, but also a lot of young people. I think that’s what’s so special about these films. Talking about the themes, they’re like mini history lessons, these films. Before this movie, I didn’t know the extent of colonialism in Malta at the time. Then going to Malta to be able to explore all of the history that actually happened and getting shown certain things was special to me.
How’d you want to balance staying true to the spirit of the franchise but having it evolve?
I learn something new every single day when I’m working on set. I’m a big believer in the idea that you don’t know everything. You can’t know everything. So coming in with an open mind, especially with this film, was very important to me, to be able to come in and be part of this family and try to put my spin on it a little bit while also keeping the integrity of the first two movies. I was not trying to take away from any of that, and hopefully making it seamless and making it feel like it’s grown up a little bit more, and she’s grown up a little bit more.
What did you and Millie Bobby Brown want to accomplish with Enola in the third film?
The first conversation I had with Millie was, “You know Enola Holmes better than anybody. I’m not going to come in and start to tell you how to play Enola Holmes or how she’s supposed to act or be or move or do this, say this line in this particular way.” I am coming in to guide us through this process and hopefully make the best movie we can make and be collaborative about it. I’ve been invited as a guest into this family, and I don’t want to mess it up.
Enola Holmes 3. (L to R) Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury and Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes in Enola Holmes 3. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix ©2026
You and Jack obviously work well together. How does he visually inspire you?
Jack’s scripts are very visual. He’s got this real ability to sort of, like I say, transport people. Same thing with Adolescence. When I read the first draft of the episode, I could visualize the whole thing in one go. I didn’t need to think about it again.
You saw the oner immediately for Adolescence?
Basically, what I read on day one is what we shot, and that’s what he’s so clever with. Same with this as well. The difference between this and Adolescence is that Adolescence is a oner. So you have to sort of find locations that are close to each other.
With this, Jack had written Malta as it is. He’s obviously been to Malta, he’s seen Malta, he knows Malta, and when I arrived in Malta, I was like, “Oh God, yeah, this is exactly how he’s written it in the script.” It just felt… I don’t know. Jack is… I love Jack. I love him.
Jack writes incredibly deeply. When you read a Jack Thorne script, you’re immediately transported there. For me, to sort of bring that to life was exciting. I had just worked with Jack on Adolescence, so a very different but similar approach.
Any ideas you explored for the sequel that didn’t make the final cut?
There’s a moment in this film where there were ghosts that were originally supposed to be in the film, and we changed it because it felt too distanced from… There’s an element of truthfulness in all of these movies, and that just felt like we pushed it a little bit too far. We took the ghosts away. It was moments like that where we were tweaking things as we went along.
Enola Holmes 3. (L to R) Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes and Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury in Enola Holmes 3. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix ©2026.
