How the Netflix film deviated from the real story

Enola Holmes 2 has been available on Netflix since last week. The Millie Bobby Brown film sequel is set back in 19th-century Britain and focuses on a true historical event: the so-called Matchgirls’ strike. Roughly translated: strike of the matchstick women. An important figure in this social movement was Sarah Chapmanlike the reference to the real backgrounds revealed at the end of the film.

But how factual is Enola Holmes 2? The Netflix movie clearly embellishes the true story. It now follows Spoilers for the full storyline of Enola Holmes 2.

What happens in Enola Holmes 2 and what role does Sarah Chapman play?

In Enola Holmes 2, Stranger Things star Millie Bobbie Brown returns to investigate alongside her big brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill). Sarah Chapman (Hannah Dodd) is the starting point of Enola’s new case. Young Bessie visits the detective in her office: her sister has disappeared – Sarah. Both worked together in the match factory in Lyon, which had an unusually high incidence of typhus.

Enola finds out that Sarah goes by the name of Cicely the Uncover the machinations of the Lyon factory and want to take action against it. She works with William Lyon, the factory owner’s son, with whom she also has a love affair. Both had found out that William’s father used cheap white phosphorus in the factory, which poisoned the women workers. The austerity measure led to the supposed cases of typhus. Knowing this, William is murdered, but Sarah leads the workers’ strike at the end of the film.

The True Story of Sarah Chapman

The real Sarah Chapman was born in 1862, she died in 1945 at the age of 83, an East End Women Musuem article reveals. Indeed, the factory worker played a key role in the Matchgirls’ strike. This was triggered by poor working conditions in the Bryant & May factory, the real name of the factory. The women worked in it 14 hours a day, received starvation wages and suffered from health problems. The reason: white phosphorus, which causes a form of cancer.

Sarah Chapman was one of 8 women who chaired the strike committee: Mary Cummings, Mary Driscoll, Alice Francis, Eliza Martin, Mary Naulls, Kate Sclater and Jane Wakeling. Chapman is now considered one of the leaders of the movement. According to her great-granddaughter, she was elected to the union committee set up after the successful strike. Her influence on the women workers’ movement was undoubtedly great. However, the Netflix film comes up with some dramatic details.

2 things the Netflix movie clearly invented

In order to integrate Sarah Chapman’s story into the detective plot in an exciting way, the authors invented 2 elements:

Change 1: Sarah Chapman didn’t disappear before she led the strike. However, the change helps tie her fate to that of a fictional detective like Enola Holmes, who is tasked with solving her case and uncovering a larger conspiracy.

Change 2: There is no evidence of a romantic relationship with the factory owner’s son as portrayed in the film. But the love story makes the character more emotional and tangible. The real Sarah Chapman married a carpenter 3 years after the strike and the couple had 6 children.

Enola Holmes 2 also simplifies Chapman’s role in the workers’ movement, she is staged as a dazzling figurehead – a legitimate narrative handling of real rooted material. Especially when, as in this case, the film does not have the historically correct claim of a biopic.

The 20 best series starts in November: 1899, Wednesday and Teletubby horror

Need more fresh streaming tips? The most exciting series that you can stream in November on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and more can be found here in the monthly preview:

We have checked the long starting lists of the streaming services and present you the 20 big highlights of the month in the Moviepilot podcast stream trawl. Featuring fantasy highlights like Wednesday and Willow, as well as 1899, the highly anticipated new puzzle series from the Dark team.

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