Released: 7th May
Seen: 25th July
In 2005, author Leonie Swann released her first book, Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, to much acclaim, selling over 100,000 copies within six months, which is wildly impressive (certainly better than most books about sheep, I imagine). One of those copies would eventually land in the hands of screenwriter Craig Mazin, who recently showed off his dramatic writing chops with the incredible series Chernobyl and the incredibly popular The Last of Us. I suspect after writing a couple of shows like that (especially Chernobyl, one of the most intense TV series I’ve ever sat through), Craig needed something light and fluffy to clear his head, and so he adapted Leonie’s novel into The Sheep Detectives and, in doing so, made one of the most adorably charming and surprisingly intelligent movies of 2026.
The Sheep Detectives begins on a small farm in the small English village of Denbrook where there are very few people and nothing ever really happens. One of the people living in this little village is George Hardy (Hugh Jackman), a simple shepherd who just spends his day living in a trailer, caring for his sheep and making a simple living by selling their wool and working on a patent for a medication that cures a sheep disease called Orf. Well, one day George winds up dead from apparent poisoning and it’s up to the simple-minded local police officer Tim (Nicholas Braun) to solve his murder… but Tim is a bit of an idiot and there are a lot of suspects to go through. So, instead, George’s sheep will have to solve the murder, specifically Lily (Julia-Louis Dreyfus) but she can have some help from the rest of the flock. Surely that’s not such a baaaaaaad idea, right?
One of the wonderful things about The Sheep Detectives is how it wastes no time in drawing you into its delightful little world and getting you used to how things work. We get a very quick and effective introduction to our mostly human cast, including Innkeeper Beth (Hong Chau), stranded reporter Elliot (Nicholas Galitzine) and George’s daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon), among a few others, then we get to understand how the sheep world itself works. This is possibly one of the most fascinating and effective things, just exploring how they can talk or what the social dynamics are is done so quickly that you immediately can latch onto this film’s vibes and go along for its ride.
As a murder mystery, The Sheep Detectives is up there with the likes of Knives Out in terms of being a cleverly thought-out mystery with just enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing without going so far that it becomes insane. All the characters involved with the case are strange and different enough that you want to get to know more about each one so you can try to help solve this murder or figure out what secrets this little town holds. It’s also like Knives Out in that underneath the playful banter and silly presentation, The Sheep Detectives touches on topics like chosen families, bigotry, acceptance of death, how people grow from bad experiences and even the horrors of factory farming and does all of them in a way that’s there if you want to look into them, but also not so in your face it overtakes the movie.
While touching on heavy topic, what really makes The Sheep Detectives so good is its breezy presentation filled with some of the sweetest jokes you’ll find, playing up the elements we associate with sheep to the hilt to create some moments that will just pull a giggle out of you without you even thinking about it. It almost pulls you in, pulling you in with the silly sheep running around bumping into things or being scared to cross a road, so later on it can make you bawl your eyes out during the climax because of the way some clouds are shaped. Even with this goofy premise that should fall apart in seconds, it just pulls you in so you have to go along with it. Indeed, if you can watch this without completely falling in love with it, I’m concerned.
The Sheep Detectives‘s cleverness cannot be understated, it’s like the film knows it has a very silly premise (Sheep solves Wolverine’s murder) so it has to compensate by being one of the smartest films of the year. Everything is so clever and charming and funny that it’s impossible to even think of a reason not to love it, everything about this film just feels special. It’s the kind of film that fits every mood, you can watch it when you want something brainless that can just be enjoyed without paying attention to it or watch it when you want to really dive in deep on the underlying messages of a film. It can cheer you up, it can make you laugh, it can be there for a good cry, it’s a film that you could put on in a room with any kind of person and they will enjoy it and if they don’t, cut that negativity out of your life because you absolutely do not need it.
The Sheep Detectives is the kind of film that shouldn’t work, it just shouldn’t. Just describing it will make you feel insane… but it’s truly a magical film, the kind that feels truly timeless with a warmth that wraps around the audience like a comfy woolen blanket. When we talk about the great detectives from the world of fiction, obviously you’d include Benoit Blanc, Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple in the list but after this film I think it’s only fair to include Lily the sheep in the list as a truly great detective and star of a truly great film.
Movie Meister Reviews 