Big Screen Views: The Sheep Detectives

“The Sheep Detectives” is a romp in emerald-green pastures, yes. It also gives us plenty to think about. 

Billed as a kid-friendly comedy, “Detectives” is a heartstring-tugger, starting off with the Winter Lamb. This is a lesser-known member of the ovine community, not a black sheep but a baby born at the wrong time, in the wrong circumstances. His tiny voice is that of actor Tommy Birchall.

Naturally, the Winter Lamb is someone many, many of us can relate to. In the film, the little black-spotted guy—who doesn’t even have a name—is off by himself most of the time. Meanwhile the herd frolics in the field, with good shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) looking after them. Ever the empathic caregiver, he bottle-feeds the motherless winter lamb.

Then the shocking thing happens. George is killed off. “The Sheep Detectives” is a murder mystery of another color, taking place in a tiny, gossipy, fictional town called Denbrook. 

Some of the humans in this story, which is based on the novel “Three Bags Full” by Leonie Swann, are winter lambs. There’s George’s long-lost daughter Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon), journalist-poser Elliott Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine), and the town’s one and only cop, Officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun). 

Since something is rotten in Denbrook, in sweeps Emma Thompson to class up the joint. She portrays attorney Lydia Harbottle, who breaks the news about George’s will. She pops in and out, in a series of brightly colored shark-fin suits. 

As sharp as Lydia is, she’s not the one who solves the mystery. The sheep step up—after deciding that their typical policy of memory erasing will not do. 

You see, whenever something bad happens, the flock clusters up, closes their eyes and vows to forget all about it. They can then continue their grazing, together in ignorance, as if the awful thing never took place. 

Yet this flock so loved George, so respected the way George lived his life, that they opt to face reality and do something about it. Their leader is a reddish-brown Shetland ewe, Lily, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Named after George’s late beloved wife, Lily is the smartest sheep around. 

She has a coterie of sidekicks who are so much fun to watch as they bumble and philosophize: Sebastian the Icelandic Leadersheep (voiced by Bryan Cranston), Mopple the Merino (voiced by Chris O'Dowd) and Wool-Eyes the Lincoln Longwool (voiced by Rhys Darby). 

The voice of Sir Richfield, a Boreray sheep, is the elegant Sir Patrick Stewart. Brett Goldstein voices both Ronnie and Reggie, the twin Norfolk Horn rams who love to bash things.  

So look: We have diversity within the flock. In “The Sheep Detectives,” we also have a picture that deals with grief, love, exclusion and belonging—while stirring in humor that isn’t overly clever or cutesy. The picture does remind me of “The Wonderful World of Disney” (anyone else remember the 1970s TV series?). But it is a 2026 story. 

The appearance and reappearance of the winter lamb, shunned by the grownups at first, remind us of some useful lessons. Even when outcasts are awkward and fearful, they see key things the in-crowd cannot. In the case of this one, the shepherd’s care early in life makes all the difference. 

When screenwriter Craig Mazin and director Kyle Balda chose to adapt Swann’s book, they gave us an old-fashioned movie that uses modern technology and a cracking cast to tell a good tale. “The Sheep Detectives” made me want to seek out other mysteries by Swann, and fortunately, along with her “Miss Sharp Investigates” series, she’s written a second sheepy novel titled “Big Bad Wool.” In this one, the flock goes off to Europe—and we can only hope a second movie will follow.