Movie number 19 of 2026
The Movie: The Sheep Detectives
The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Runtime: One hour 49 minutes
Stars: 4.5
This is AWESOME! It's wonderful. And a bit silly. And it's got a lovely heart. And it's not a kid's film, though kids will love 90 percent of it. And yes, I cried a bit at the end.
Seriously, this is a wonderful, wonderful film, putting together a brilliant voice cast, a great script and excellent CGI. And sure, some of it's a bit over the top, but it's just wonderful.
Yes, I'm gushing, but deservedly so. You take the best of the best, run with a silly idea, have excellent production values, this is what's going to happen.
Based on a German novel written by Leonie Swann, master screenwriter Craig Mazin has shaped a glorious film. Mazin's credentials include the third episode of The Last of Us and Chernobyl. He knows what he's doing.
And sure, this sounds stupid. It's not.
I'll explain. George (Hugh Jackman) is curmudgeonly shepherd. He's got a beef with most of small town for initially unknown reasons. He's a bit of a loner. And he likes to read his sheep detective novels before they go to bed. The sheep love this.
He's got no idea that the sheep talk to each other. And have ideas, and thoughts and dreams and a whole different way of seeing the world (such as sheep don't die, they just turn into clouds - this is a biggie.)
The sheep are of different breeds, making them easy to identify. Lily (Julia Luis-Dreyfus) is the smart one who keeps everybody together. Chris O'Dowd is Mopple, her sidekick who remembers everything (see, sheep have the ability to forget things if they wish). There's Rhys Darby playing Wool-Eyes - who really needs a haircut. Andmy favourites, Ronnie and Reggie, voiced by Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent off Ted Lasso - Chef's kiss casting). Oh yes, and Bryan Cranston voices Sebastian, a ram brought to the flock who's a loner, yet he still keeps an eye on the herd. There are more sheep, but these are the main sheep characters.
One morning, George turns up dead. He's been murdered. The sheep, being amateur sleuths thanks to George's nightly reading set out to find the killer.
In the sleepy town we have the suspects. The jealous shop owner (Hong Chau), the butcher (Conleth Hill) the shepherd who agists land off George to run more sheep (Tosin Cole) and the vicar (Kobna Holbrook-Smith). Adding to the group, George's Daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon) comes to town, along with a lawyer (Emma Thompson) to read George's will. Oh, and there's a pesky reporter who came to look into the town's show (Nicholas Galitzine). Oh, and then there's the town's only policeman (Nicholas Braun, who will forever be Cousin Greg from Succession). Sure, there are some slips in the accents - it's forgivable under the greatness of the script.
It sounds convoluted - it's not really. It's just a murder mystery with sheep - and a great cast and script. It's also got some brilliant messages about looking after your tribe and the horror that is othering and what it can do to people.
Seriously, go see this. Take the family. There are a few scenes that might scare little kids, but older ones will be fine.
I've just told my mother to go see this - I'm not so sure about my step-dad going - he used to run sheep and might not see some of the humour.
This is what happens when you get the best production values, script and cast together and make something amazing.
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