I think in any other year, The Sheep Detectives would be in the Oscar conversation, which seems like a crazy thing to say because just hearing there’s a movie called The Sheep Detectives immediately makes you wonder how on earth. But hear me out.
Babe was a Best Picture nominee because it was original, it had heart, and it really took advantage of the technology available at the time to tell this wonderfully charming story about a little pig. The Sheep Detectives feels like that kind of unexpected movie. It takes this absolutely bonkers premise about a shepherd, played by Hugh Jackman, who is murdered, and somehow turns it into a genuinely touching, funny, and surprisingly compelling mystery. That’s not really a spoiler, by the way. He has to die for the rest of the movie to happen.
While there’s a bumbling detective, played by Nicholas Braun, trying to solve the murder, it’s really the sheep doing the investigating. Their shepherd loved them enough to believe every single sheep deserved a name, so he named all of them except for one little winter lamb who hadn’t been around long enough yet. Everyone just calls the poor thing Winter Sheep. We learn that sheep born during the winter are looked down upon by the rest of the flock, so this little lamb hasn’t done anything wrong and is already struggling to fit in.
The reason these sheep are capable detectives in the first place is because their shepherd spent years reading them murder mystery novels. As ridiculous as that sounds, the movie completely commits to the idea. One particularly sharp sheep, Lily, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, becomes determined to solve the murder of the man they all loved, joined by Mopple, voiced by Chris O’Dowd, whose defining trait is that he simply cannot forget anything.
One of my favorite ideas in the film is that sheep can actually choose to forget memories. The flock gathers together, agrees on what they want to erase, counts down together, and then that memory simply disappears. They even consider forgetting their shepherd after his death because it’s too painful, but thankfully they’re stopped. Why would they erase someone who spent years caring for them like family? Bryan Cranston voices a wise old ram who mostly watches over the flock from a distance, and he delivers one of the film’s best observations. At least their shepherd raised them for their wool and not for something else. That becomes especially important because another shepherd in this small British village raises sheep for meat instead. Suddenly, solving the murder becomes about more than justice. If the flock can’t expose the killer before the shepherd’s estate is settled, they could all wind up in the wrong meadow.
Alongside Nicholas Braun’s increasingly overwhelmed detective, the sheep begin investigating a growing list of suspects. There’s a rival shepherd, a local preacher, the woman who runs the village hotel, and even the shepherd’s own daughter, who arrives after receiving years of heartfelt letters from her father about the sheep and his hope that she might someday take over the farm. Unfortunately, her arrival also makes her look suspicious. The movie also introduces an eager young reporter who originally came to town to cover one of the village’s wonderfully ridiculous local festivals before realizing there’s a much bigger story unfolding. There’s a talented supporting cast of humans ranging from Emma Thompson to Nicholas Galatizine,, while Bella Ramsey voices one of the lesser sheep. But much like Babe was always about the animals, even though James Cromwell managed to earn an Oscar nomination for delivering “That’ll do, Pig,” this movie ultimately belongs to its flock.
Everything really rests on Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Chris O’Dowd. Their chemistry, comedic timing, and genuine emotional investment make you care about these sheep far more than you probably expect going in. There’s a wonderful payoff involving Lily near the end that I really enjoyed, and both performers deserve to be in the conversation anywhere people are recognizing hybrid performances that blend voice acting with visual effects work.
The Sheep Detectives is one of those films that just works broadly for everybody. When you hear “talking sheep,” your first thought is probably, “Oh God, it’s a kids movie.” But it really isn’t, because it’s also a murder mystery, and the film never dumbs that aspect down just to attract younger audiences. Instead, it plays things smart. The material is safe enough that kids can absolutely enjoy it, but the humor, the wit, and the intelligence all feel aimed squarely at adults. It’s one of those pleasant surprises where, if you just want something nice that isn’t loud, screaming at you, full of exploding people, blazing guns, and everybody shouting curse words every other sentence, The Sheep Detectives is exactly that kind of movie.
Craig Mazin’s screenplay is incredibly clever, and I’ve already seen the film twice because there’s just something so easy about it. It’s warm, refreshing, and comforting, almost like spending time with an old friend even though you’ve only just met them. Nicholas Braun is fantastic here. I’m honestly not sure what the thought process was in casting him because he isn’t British, but you certainly wouldn’t know that from his performance. He completely commits to the accent while playing a small-town detective who suddenly finds himself getting help from a flock of sheep as he investigates his first murder.
The Sheep Detectives is also exceptionally well made. I imagine the production values are outstanding. I’ve heard the sheep look remarkably realistic, even though there weren’t actual sheep performing the stunt work the story requires. Unfortunately, I suspect the visual effects artists behind the film are going to be overlooked in favor of the year’s bigger, flashier spectacles like Project Hail Mary, The Odyssey, and the upcoming Dune: Part Three. But there’s something equally impressive about creating believable animals that audiences accept as real characters, and I hope The Sheep Detectives at least finds its way onto the Academy’s Visual Effects shortlist.
It’s funny to think we’ve expanded the Best Picture race to ten nominees when Babe managed to earn one of only five slots back in its day, yet The Sheep Detectives will probably struggle to crack a field of ten. Even so, I think it’s every bit as charming, every bit as warm, and just as meaningful in the lessons it has to offer. The audio description is wonderful, making sure to point out the little physical traits that distinguish each sheep from the others so blind and low-vision audiences can tell who’s who beyond simply recognizing the voices. That’s exactly what good audio description should do.
The movie did reasonably well at the box office, but I wish it had done better. Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of theatrical releases these days. It’s hard for films to stay in theaters long enough to build momentum through word of mouth because everything has an expiration date before heading to streaming. I really think The Sheep Detectives is the kind of movie that could have found a much larger audience if people hadn’t assumed they could simply wait for it to show up on Amazon. Hopefully that’s exactly where it finds the audience it deserves.
I really enjoyed The Sheep Detectives. It’s smart, it’s fresh, it’s funny, and it’s warm. It’s everything we’ve been missing ever since Babe learned how to herd sheep simply by being kind to them. That’ll do, Sheep, that’ll do.
Fresh: 8.4/10
