The Sheep Detectives
★★★★
The Sheep Detectives is a delightful surprise.
From the trailer alone, it is hard not to think of Babe, though I will admit I have somehow never seen Babe, so I cannot fairly compare the two. But what makes The Sheep Detectives work so well is that, while it is easy to label it as a family film because it features CGI talking sheep, the movie itself never feels like it is trying too hard to be one. Everyone involved treats this like a real movie with a real mystery, real characters and real emotional stakes.
At its heart, this is a whodunit, and people have always loved a good whodunit. From Columbo to Matlock to the recent Knives Out franchise, there is something instantly relaxing and enjoyable about watching a mystery unfold. I am not usually the kind of viewer who spends the whole movie trying to solve the case before the characters do. I mostly just enjoy the ride, and this is a very fun ride.
The sheep themselves are handled beautifully. The CGI works, the voices are cast perfectly and each sheep has enough personality that you can actually follow who they are, what they care about and how they fit into the story. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Rhys Darby and Brett Goldstein all help make the flock feel distinct and memorable.
But the real trick is that the movie does not rely only on the sheep. There is just as much human presence here, with Hugh Jackman, Molly Gordon, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Hong Chau and Emma Thompson among the cast. The story feels truly shared between the humans and the sheep, with both sides needing each other for the mystery to come together.
The human characters are also wonderfully cast. Even the smaller roles in this British town are filled with faces and personalities that stick with you. There are a lot of players in the story, but somehow it remains easy to follow. Kids may get a little lost in some of the plot mechanics, but I actually appreciated that the movie does not dumb itself down just because there are talking sheep on screen.
The humor is clever, the mystery is fun to guess along with and the whole thing has more heart than I expected. For a movie with such a silly premise, it also touches on surprisingly real ideas about purpose, grief, spirituality and what happens after we leave this world. That could have felt way too heavy, but the movie handles it with a tenderness that sneaks up on you.
I also have to give a shoutout to Nicholas Braun as the bumbling local cop. After Succession, it is easy to wonder if an actor so perfectly associated with one role can fully step outside of it. There is still a little Cousin Greg energy here, but it is a different character, and Braun proves he can bring that awkward charm into a totally new world.
I know it is a cliché to call something “fun for all ages,” but The Sheep Detectives really earns it. It is funny, warm, surprisingly thoughtful and hard for me to imagine any age not enjoying. Far smarter, funnier and more heartfelt than I ever expected.
