The Sheep Detectives is at first a strange prospect, a whodunnit aimed at children with ovine investigators. Stranger still is the film's focus on people's struggles with grief and the stupidity of prejudice, ultimately though it is a funny, engaging kid's film that engages children in a lively mystery. Based on Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by German writer Leonie Swann, the film feels heavily influenced by Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc series, its oddly reminiscent of the recent Wake Up Dead Man (2025) and the recent trend of cosy crime fiction such as Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club. There’s also a clear debt to Chris Noonan’s Babe (1995) in the way the animals interact and move, like that film we see much of the narrative from their perspective.

After their beloved shepherd George (Hugh Jackman) is murdered his loyal flock take it upon themselves to solve the crime. George read to his sheep every night from his collection of detective fiction and following the tropes and genre conventions of these stories they intend to bring the culprit to justice. (“Just us?") So the smartest sheep in the world Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Mopple (Chris O’Dowd) must leave the safe confines of their field, brave the road and venture into the nearby village to look for clues. Seemingly everyone in the tiny hamlet of Denbrook hated this apparently perfect shepherd, so guided by black sheep (figuratively and literally) Sebastian (Brian Cranston) they must steer the guileless village policeman (Nicholas Braun) towards the culprit. The people of the village are much less human and expressive than the sheep, instead serving as avatars for the usual suspects that populate George’s detective stories. The actors portraying the villagers do an admiral job though especially Braun who is forced (by the sheep) to learn on the job and Emma Thompson who is clearly having a ton of fun. It is the sheep that are the stars of the film though and luckily the voice cast are truly excellent. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O’Dowd and Brian Cranston are surprisingly grounded, adding depth and believability to the fairly expressionless animals. It’s a shame then that the recording is mixed in such a way that you’re always aware the actors are in a recording booth, the film definitely lacks the more realistic warmth of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Not a huge issue in itself but paired with the uncanny valley nature of these CGI sheep and there’s sometimes a distracting disconnect between you and the characters. This though, is splitting hairs and there's not a child in any audience who will not immediately warm to the lovable fluffy flock.