‘The Sheep Detectives' review: Ewe works the clues in odd but fun mystery
Believing sheep are the kindest creatures on Earth, English shepherd George provides them with great care, feeding them and giving them medicine and not allowing other men who may do them harm to get their hands on them.
He also reads to them every night. Murder-mystery novels.
George tells himself he knows they can't understand the stories, but he doesn't correctly interpret the sounds they make when he closes a book before finishing it.
They just baaaaa-dly want to know who done it.
And when George is murdered, his animals discover he's given them the tools needed to crack the case.
We meet Hugh Jackman's George - as well as several of his sheep, voiced by well-known actors including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston and Patrick Stewart - in the early moments of "The Sheep Detectives," a highly enjoyable family-friendly comedy mystery debuting this week in theaters.
Adapted from German novelist Leonie Swann's 2005 bestseller, "Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story," the odd-but-charming romp is directed by Kyle Balda and penned by Craig Mazin.
George's death is a big deal in the small fictional English village of Denbrook, although the town's lone - and young - police officer, Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), does not suspect foul play. However, Lily (Louis-Dreyfus), the smartest member of George's flock, believes differently.
With the help of other sheep - primarily the patient Mopple (Chris O'Dowd) and gruff loner Sebastian (Cranston) - Lily endeavors not only to put the pieces together but also to nudge Tim in the right direction from time to time.
Suspects abound for both sheep and human detectives, who count Tim as well as Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine, "The Idea of You"), a reporter visiting Denbrook with whom the cop reluctantly teams. They include Caleb Merrow (Tosin Cole, "Supacell"), a neighboring shepherd; Ham Gilyard (Conleth Hill, "Game of Thrones"), a butcher who would love to put his knives to George's sheep; Beth Pennock (Hong Chau, "The Whale"), an innkeeper who steals what she believes to be a love letter from George to another woman; Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, "Justice League"), a minister with whom George seemingly has feuded; Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon, "Theater Camp"), George's long-lost daughter, who arrives in town around the time of the killing; and Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson, "Dead of Winter") a lawyer representing George's far-away but heard-from son.
Lily and, by extension, Tim rely largely on the conventions of the murder-mystery genre to piece together the clues. However, Tim must not let his (entirely obvious) attraction to Rebecca cloud his judgment, while Lily finds reasons to question if she's as smart as she thinks. Sure, she's always known the ending to George's mysteries before he's revealed them, but this is real life and she worries about the ramifications of her being wrong this time.
The production is said to have used a hybrid approach to create this photorealistic animated flock of crime-solving sheep, which also include the proud and dignified Sir Ritchfield (Stewart, "Star Trek: Picard"), the shabby Wool-Eyes (Rhys Darby, "Flight of the Conchords"), the curious Zora (Bella Ramsey, "Catherine Called Birdy"), fluffy diva Cloud (Regina Hall, "Girls Trip") and meathead ram brothers Reggie and Ronnie (both voiced by Brett Goldstein, "Ted Lasso").
Lastly, there's the poor little Winter Lamb (Tommy Birchall), seen as an outsider by the other sheep simply because it wasn't born in spring like the rest of them. This little lamb will, of course, prove its worth.
Known for his work in animation, including as the director or co-director of films such as "The Lorax" (2012) and a few films in the "Despicable Me"/"Minions" universe, Balda confidently steps into the realm of live action. "The Sheep Detectives" has myriad moving pieces, but Balda never lets the story wander off.
He has help juggling all of these characters from skilled writer Mazin, best known for a pair of prestige HBO dramas, the 2019 limited series "Chernobyl" and the ongoing supernatural video game adaptation "The Last of Us." Swimming in these gentler waters, he keeps things both structurally sound and fun.
Speaking of fun, it's a treat to hear "Seinfeld" staple Louis-Dreyfus and Cranston ("Breaking Bad"), who recurred on "Seinfeld" as colorful dentist Tim Whatley, share the screen again but in a decidedly different manner. O'Dowd ("Bridesmaids," "The Sapphires") brings a lot to the mix with his performance as the easy-going and wise Mopple.
And while Jackman ("The Prestige," "The Greatest Showman") is the movie's biggest star and gets top billing, he really isn't around for much of it. When it comes to two-legged characters, "The Sheep Detectives" mostly is a showcase for Braun, who's essentially doing a more sympathetic spin on his entertainingly dopey "Succession" character, Cousin Greg. (You kinda hope he gets the girl, even as you have reason to wonder if Rebecca may, in fact, have offed her pops.)
While it likely falls short of a movie the family will watch for years to come, we wouldn't pull the wool over your eyes - "The Sheep Detectives" is worth gathering your flock to see at least once.
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‘THE SHEEP DETECTIVES'
3 stars (out of 4)
MPA rating: PG (for thematic material, some violent content and brief language)
Running time: 1:49
How to watch: In theaters May 8
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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 8:13 AM.