Based on the novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin,”Mr. Holmes” starring Ian McKellen is a look at an aging Sherlock Holmes tormented by a past failure.
Set in the English countryside after World War II, the movie begins as Holmes is returning from a mysterious trip to Japan. Living alone except for his housekeeper Mrs. Munro, Laura Linney, and her young son, Holmes struggles with his inability to remember names and events. Thinking back over his final case which was unsolved, Holmes uses all his deductive powers to understand why he was unable to save the young woman he was hired to investigate.
As his memory fades, he relies more and more on his housekeeper and especially her young son. The bond they forge helps Holmes to put his disappointments about the past to rest and enables him, once again, to use his power of deduction to save the young boy.
Well acted and beautifully photographed, “Mr. Holmes” is a powerful suspense-thriller.