Tonight's Movie: The Sheep Detectives (2026)

When I first saw the trailer for THE SHEEP DETECTIVES (2026) a few months ago, I was intrigued, as it looked both amusing and refreshingly different.

I've now seen the film and am happy to report it was an enjoyable afternoon at the movies, thanks to a strong cast and a creative premise which nicely balances humor and pathos.

George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd in rural England who enjoys winding down at the end of the day reading murder mysteries out loud to his flock of sheep. Little does he know the sheep are actually hanging on to his every word...and that they discuss the plots among themselves once George retires for the night.

George chooses to live an isolated existence in a trailer not far from a small village. He's tender with the sheep but not especially social when it comes to humans, though he sends letters to a mysterious woman named Rebecca (Molly Gordon) and invites her to visit.

Given his quiet life, it's a shock when Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), one of George's favorite sheep, discovers him dead.

Lily initially thinks George is playing a game, but another, wiser sheep, Mopple (Chris O'Dowd), breaks the bad news that George is no longer alive.

Although sheep have a magical ability to choose to block painful experiences from their minds, they realize it would be wrong to forget about George and his death. Instead, they need to put what they've learned from his mystery novels to work and find out who killed him -- especially as the village police officer, Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), has no experience with murder cases.

With its CGI characters and talking animals, THE SHEEP DETECTIVES has touches of films such as BABE (1995) and CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (2018), and like those movies it works equally well for both adults and children.

Indeed, it was a pleasant surprise that the film is rated only PG, rather than PG-13; despite being centered around a murder, THE SHEEP DETECTIVES is what one thinks of as a "cozy" British mystery, with its gentle tone and smalltown setting. Gore and bad language are absent.

The film has some really marvelous humor, thanks to both the sheep and particularly Emma Thompson as a businesslike, brusque attorney. Alongside the chuckles, the film explores some profound themes about love, loss, belonging, and remembrance that cause misty eyes along with the laughter.

Some moments manage to be funny and profound all at once, such as when Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) attempts to explain God to Lily: "He's a shepherd. And a sheep." He goes on from there and ultimately had me sputtering with laughter as he discusses God with the confused Lily.

I especially liked Braun as the police officer. The movie avoids initially expected cliches such as him being a jerk or a dimwit; instead, as time goes on we find that he's innocent enough to be open to the strange goings-on when the sheep send him clues.

I'll be honest and say that I would have liked a voice other than Louis-Dreyfus for Lily, but that's more an issue of personal preference regarding the sound of her voice, rather than anything overtly wrong with her vocal performance. Perhaps it will grow on me over future viewings.

Other sheep are voiced by Patrick Stewart, Tommy Birchall, Regina Hall, Rhys Darby, Laraine Newman, and Brett Goldstein, who plays rambunctious twins.

My only real issue with the film is that at times the setting feels what I can only describe as "plastic." Perhaps this is owing in part to the CGI needed to animate the sheep, but despite some location shooting, I was always aware it was a "movie village." That said, this issue doesn't detract overly much from a very well-done entertainment.

The story and screenplay for this 109-minute film were by Craig Mazin from the novel THREE BAGS FULL by Leonie Swann.

The movie was directed by Kyle Balda, filmed by George Steel, and scored by Christophe Beck.

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