Young Sherlock review: Guy Ritchie's action-packed Prime Video prequel

Young Sherlock, a Prime Video prequel based on Andrew Lane's young adult novels, follows a teenage Sherlock Holmes at Oxford in a fresh, youthful adaptation created by Matthew Parkhill and directed by Guy Ritchie. The series intentionally loosens its ties to canon and drops Dr.

John Watson, showing a Sherlock who is impulsive, emotional and not yet the master detective audiences expect, while retaining his intelligence and focus on deduction. Hero Fiennes Tiffin brings a certain naivete to the role that fits this early point in the character's life.

The show centers on a murder at Oxford that draws in a visiting Chinese princess, members of the Holmes family, and figures from the family’s past, unfolding into a larger conspiracy whose final twist rewards close attention. Dónal Finn's James Moriarty arrives as Sherlock’s friend rather than an immediate villain, and the series doubles as an origin story that humanizes the future adversary; scenes set in a shared “mind palace” emphasize the equal footing between the two young geniuses.

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