'The Sheep Detectives' sounds dumb. It's actually wooly and wonderful

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona RepublicWed, May 6, 2026 at 12:01 PM UTC

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I love the thrill of a movie beating lowered expectations.

Unless you go into every film you see hoping that it’s going to be good, you’re probably not going to enjoy being a film critic very much. Yet most of the time, you can’t help but have some preconceived notions going in.

For instance, I went into “The Sheep Detectives” knowing that it was a movie in which live actors interact with CGI sheep. A crime occurs and the sheep have to solve it. The CGI sheep. Who talk.

See what I mean? It’s got a great cast, including Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Emma Thompson, Brett Goldstein, Patrick Stewart and more, but come on. It sounds dopey at best, unbearable at worst.

It’s neither of those things.

What is 'The Sheep Detectives' about?

It is, in fact, a good movie — and not a good dumb kids’ movie, not a good guilty pleasure nor any sort of faint praise like that. It’s just good, period, a perfectly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours that doesn’t insult children or adults, but entertains them.

I liked it.

George (Jackman) is a shepherd in the tiny town of Denbrook, England. He doesn’t like people, but he tends to his sheep with love and devotion, and every night he reads to them from detective novels. A letter he’s writing provides some exposition — he truly does care for these creatures, and they so seem to love being read to he can almost pretend they understand.

Which, of course, they do. Lily (Louis-Dreyfus) is the brains of the flock, and can always solve the crime, even before George finishes the books. The rest of the sheep aren’t as good at detective work, but that doesn’t hinder their confidence. Sir Ritchfiled (Stewart) is a proper old fellow. Cloud (Regina Hall) is the flock beauty. There is a dopey set of twins (both voiced by Brett Goldstein).

Julia-Louis Dreyfus as the voice of Lily and Hugh Jackman as George Hardy in 'The Sheep Detectives.'

Aside from Lily, however, three sheep set themselves apart. One is Mopple (Chris O’Dowd), who possesses a rare power, though it’s not thought of that way. The rest of the sheep have the ability to willfully forget things. Not Mopple. While the other sheep think, for instance, that sheep don’t die, they just turn into clouds, Mopple knows some darker truths.

The Winter Lamb (Tommy Birchall) is ostracized because he wasn’t born in spring, like the rest of the sheep. All the sheep, even the smarter ones, will have nothing to do with him. And Sebastian (Cranston) is a proud loner, a literal black sheep with a secret.

All is well until one day the sheep find George lying dead on the ground. Denbrook’s one police officer, the dim-witted Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), arrives on the scene and clearly doesn’t have the brains to solve the case. So, driven by Lily, the sheep decide they will. It turns out to be harder in real life than in a book, but they’re nothing if not persistent.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is great as a smart sheep who learns a lot

Molly Gordon stars as Rebecca Hampstead, Kobna Holbrook-Smith as Reverend Hillcoate, Nicholas Galitzine as Elliot Matthews and Hong Chau as Beth Pennock in 'The Sheep Detectives.'

George’s attorney (Thompson) arrives in town, at the same time as his estranged American daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon). Rebecca was hoping to reestablish a relationship with her father, only to learn he’s been murdered. There’s a squirrely inkeeper (Hong Chau) and a visiting investigative journalist (Nicholas Galitzine) and assorted other variously loopy people, any of whom at one point or another look like a suspect.

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Sometimes the film, directed by Kyle Balda (“Minions”) and based on the novel “Three Bags Full” by Leonie Swann, gets a little silly, but never stupid. Louis-Dreyfus is great as a sheep who doesn't know all that she thinks she does, but is willing to learn. All of the live-action actors called to interact with the CGI sheep do so with gusto and seeming glee. It’s not that everyone takes it all deadly seriously, if you’ll excuse the expression. It’s that they take it all as serious as they should — just the right amount.

And make no mistake, it’s not all sheep antics. The comedy is smart, but there are, no question, some tough moments, involving death, sacrifice and heartbreak. How that will play with children is an interesting question, but I hope it doesn’t keep parents from taking them to the theater.

What a nice surprise “The Sheep Detectives” is. It’s sweet and it’s clever and well-acted (or voiced, depending on the character). But my favorite thing may be its utter disdain for finding a target audience.

In an algorithm-driven world in which every decision is made based on numbers, prediction markets or a desperate attempt to be all things to all people (especially the people not buying your product), hooray for this weird little movie that refuses to play that game. If it can’t always figure out quite what it wants to be, it’s all the better for it.

'The Sheep Detectives' 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Kyle Balda.

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O'Dowd.

Rating: PG for thematic material, some violent content and brief language.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, May 8.

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Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'The Sheep Detectives' makes a silly premise a surprisingly good movie

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