This 100-minute film opens with the MGM lion bleating instead of roaring, setting the tone for a cutesy yarn, or a “herder mystery”, a clever pun used in the promotions. Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, a 2005 novel by Leonie Swann, is the foundation for the mystery comedy The Sheep Detectives, adapted by Craig Mazin and directed by Kyle Balda.
The shepherd in question is George (Hugh Jackman), who dotes on his flock to the extent that he has named each one of them. Jackman gives George a comforting warmth. His scenes reading murder mysteries aloud to the sheep, despite insisting they understand nothing (but they do), establish the film’s gentle absurdity early on. After his sudden and mysterious death, the animals—grief-stricken and shocked by the loss—begin to step up to solve the case of George’s murder. For this, they also need to leave the meadow and cross over into the nearby town of Denbrook.
Local policeman Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun) and junior reporter Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine), who recently arrived in Denbrook, lead the investigation. But the movie increasingly belongs to the sheep themselves, particularly Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George’s favourite ewe, who becomes the emotional and moral centre of the story. Her line, “Sheep don’t die, they turn into clouds,” is delivered with such simple sincerity that it forms the film’s defining sentiment.
Shetland sheep Lily, Merino sheep Mopple (Chris O’Dowd) and Icelandic leader sheep Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) begin looking for clues. Those murder mystery storytelling sessions are put to good use as they observe the behaviour of the villagers: an inn owner, rival shepherds, a disgruntled reporter, the local butcher and George’s daughter, Rebecca (Molly Gordon).
Once the lawyer (Emma Thompson) has read George’s will, motives start flying thick and fast. Meanwhile, the investigating police officer blunders through the case with conventional logic while the sheep repeatedly nudge events and push clues in the right direction, effectively solving the “herder mystery” from the shadows.
Structurally, the film is unmistakably indebted to Agatha Christie. There is the isolated English rural setting, the gallery of suspicious locals, the sudden death that unsettles the community, and the slow accumulation of clues. But the twist is that the real detectives are not the humans but the sheep.
The trailer suggested that the film was a gag-filled, endearing comedy. But the actual movie is far more sentimental than expected. It lacks the witty polish usually associated with Working Title Films productions. In fact, many of the sharpest jokes have already been used in the marketing, leaving the film itself to operate less as a comedy than as a cosy, faintly melancholic whodunit.
The strong voice cast and detailed CGI complement each other and, rather than pushing the sheep into manic cartoon territory, the voice artists—including Brett Goldstein as Norfolk Horn sheep twins Reggie and Ronnie, and Patrick Stewart as Sir Richfield, a Boreray sheep—give them distinct personalities. Their conversations often feel less like animated comedy banter and more like a jittery village committee meeting.
This is not a children’s comedy, nor a full parody of detective fiction, but a chaotic murder mystery where the sheep are funny because they remain recognisably sheep—timid, herd-minded and easily frightened—while also becoming the most steadfast and emotionally intelligent characters in the story.
Not as funny as one might expect, or even wholly cutesy, The Sheep Detectives is a woolly Agatha Christie-style mystery with a tender heart and some adorable little lambs.
‘The Sheep Detectives’ is in theatres.
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