Credit: Netflix

Henry Cavill is back as Sherlock Holmes, and yes, Netflix knew exactly what it was doing. Enola Holmes 3 sends the detective off to Malta, then flips the whole thing by making Sherlock the one who vanishes. Enola has got to find him while sorting her own wedding plans. Cavill still brings that sharp Sherlock energy, but this time the film gives him a more personal spot in Enola’s story. Well, nobody is complaining!

Cavill has always been exquisite in these films because he never tries nicking them off Millie Bobby Brown. He can look fed up with Enola but at the same time show how much he respects her. That balance works. In short, Cavill’s Sherlock knows the film’s about Enola.

And yeah, we still miss him in The Witcher. Let’s not chat rubbish, otherwise. He played Geralt for three seasons before Liam Hemsworth took over. So, once Enola Holmes 3 finishes and you still fancy more Cavill, there is one forgotten Netflix film worth dragging from the back catalogue – Sand Castle.

The 2017 war drama stars Nicholas Hoult as Matt Ocre, a young American soldier sent to Iraq during the early years of the war. Ocre joined the Army for college money and has no big dream of becoming a hero. In fact, the film opens with him trying to hurt his own hand so he can dodge deployment. But when has that worked?

Ocre’s unit later gets sent to repair a damaged water-pumping station near Baqubah. The mission sounds quite simple on paper. All they had to do was restore the water supply and help the village and move on. Piece of cake, or so they reckon.

Except it bloody isn’t. The soldiers need local workers, but the residents don’t trust them. Insurgents start targeting the project, and every trip to the pumping station becomes a gamble.

Cavill plays Captain Syverson, the Special Forces officer running the operation in the village. It’s not the lead role, so don’t go in expecting two hours of him on the screen. Still, he makes the part count. Syverson knows the area and understands the danger. And Cavill gives him authority!

That makes Sand Castle a proper Cavill follow-up because it shows a different side of him. There is no Sherlock charm here. Geralt’s sword is nowhere to be seen. Syverson is a soldier trying to stop a broken mission becoming a death sentence.

Did you know writer Chris Roessner served in Iraq and based the film on his own experiences as a machine gunner in the Sunni Triangle? The script appeared on the 2012 Black List before it reached production. So yes, technically the story is fictional, but the frustration underneath it came from somewhere Roessner knew first-hand.

Fernando Coimbra directed the film, which also stars Logan Marshall-Green and Glen Powell. Jordan stood in for Iraq during filming. It never became one of Cavill’s biggest titles, which feels a bit harsh when you look at the cast now.

So, after Cavill rocks up as Sherlock again, give Sand Castle a go. He is not the centre of the film, but when he appears, the screen wakes right up. Sometimes a supporting role is still enough to scratch that itch.