When Does the Film "Enola Holmes 2" (2022) Take Place?
“Enola Holmes 2" is a mystery film written by Jack Thorne with Harry Bradbeer [loosely adapting "Enola Holmes and the Case of the Missing Marquess" (2006) by Nancy Springer] that released November 4th, 2022. So when is "Enola Holmes 2" set?
1885 AD
We know this because the real-world labor activist Sarah Chapman (1862-1945) appears and she was born on October 31st, 1862 AD and died on November 27th, 1945 AD. So it must be between October of 1862 AD and November of 1945 AD.
Later, the Lyon match factory goes on a strike led by Chapman. Though the Lyon match factory is fictional, there were, in fact, several major match factory strikes in England at this time in the real world: 1881 AD, autumn of 1885 AD, 1886 AD, and July of 1888 AD.
Earlier, while Sherlock Holmes inspects Sarah's apartment, Enola is in his and puts down a book labeled "DEBRETT'S PEERAGE 1885" so it is during or after 1885 AD.
Most importantly, when Enola and Bessie Chapman line up to enter the Lyon match factory, there's a poster visible behind them reading "TIME TABLE 1885 LYON MATCH FACTORY" at the top implying that it is currently 1885 AD. When Enola snoops around the factory office she spots a "PROFITS AND LOSSES" spreadsheet that begins in "January 1884" and ends in "January 1886". This strongly implies December of 1885 AD is in the past but presumably it is a projection or prediction.
[HOWEVER, at one point Superintendent Grail says, "Fingerprint matching. New invention, Swiss." but London's various police forces didn't begin using fingerprints to identify criminals until 1901 AD and many various people of various nationalities were part of it's eventual usefulness. This could be considered a production mistake or proof that fingerprint identification developed differently in the fictional universe (diegesis) of Enola Holmes.]
Also, during an epilogue Enola Holmes types up a letter and she has clearly dated it for "25 October 1885". She then receives a copy of a recent issue of the real-world newspaper "THE PALL MALL GAZETTE" from Sherlock with a front-page headline referring to an event immediately afterward seen by the audience dated for "TUESDAY, 1885." So it is almost certainly October of 1885 AD at this point.
The very first shot is a white-on-black title card reading: "Some of what follows is true.", certainly referring to the match factory strike.
Interestingly, when Enola imagines two fake newspaper front-pages celebrating her eventual success they are dated for "THURSDAY, 1885." ("THE PALL MALL GAZETTE") and "THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1885." ("The Times".)
Additionally, there are sporadic flashbacks to the last film, "Enola Holmes" (2020), which takes place in July of 1884 AD. These quick moments therefore take place in July of 1884 AD.
Lastly, there are also (as in the previous tale) many very quick flashbacks to Enola's childhood but as no years or ages are given, these scenes are unplaceable.
It is the second film in the Enola Holmes timeline (an alternate universe from the Sherlock Holmes timeline of stories) and can be watched after "Enola Holmes" (2020).
