What do you get when you take Thursday Murder Club and replace the old people with sheep? The Sheep Detectives!! The film follows an eclectic flock of talking CGI sheep as they solve the murder of their beloved shepherd, George (Hugh Jackman). Adapted from Leonie Swann’s novel, Three Bags Full and directed by Kyle Balda (Minions, Despicable Me 3), The Sheep Detectives is a delightful and heartwarming tale for all the family. It is a refreshing detour from the nostalgia, remake slop that is so prevalent in family features at the moment. 

This winsome family comedy is set in the quaint English village of Denbrook, a close-knit yet somewhat forboding community that comes with rural life. Shepard George Hardy, who lives in a shabby trailer upon his field, controls his flock with pure love and devotion, and without the traditional need of a sheep-dog. Much to the locals’ disapproval, he is dedicated to raising only sheep for their wool, and not for their meat. George takes great care of his sheep, as he douses them in a blue medicine of his own invention to keep a common skin condition, Orf, at bay. He entertains them with cosy detective stories each night, believing that they listen to him and understand the story being told. Each of the sheep has their own charming personality. Among a jam-packed cast we have, Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who champions the detective stories each night, Mopple (Chis O’Dowd), who, unlike the rest of his flock, bears the burden of memory, and Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), an isolated and gruff sheep who was adopted by George from a cruel carnival (is this a callback to the greatest showman? PT Barnum called). 

George makes an unexpected visit to the village, where he crosses paths with the locals, who are hostile at best towards him. This includes the opposing shepherd, Caleb (Tosin Cole), Meat Butcher, Ham (Conleth Hill), Nosy neighbour, Beth (Hong Chau) and Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), thus setting up the cast of suspects for George’s murder as he ends up dead the next morning. As the herd tackle their confusing feelings of grief, the local village bobby, Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), comes knocking. His bumbling, inexperienced nature proves no help to the flock, so they take it upon themselves to solve the murder. As Lily, Sebastian and Mopple make the daunting journey into the village, George’s American daughter, Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon), and nosy journalist Elliot Matthews (Nicolas Galitzine) rock the scene as they add themselves to the ever-growing suspect list. 

The Sheep Detectives does not avert from the idea of mortality; it playfully blends the idea that whilst, yes, you don’t live forever, it’s not a scary idea, and it does happen to everyone, even sheep. Death is at the forefront of the film, as the sheep wrestle with the idea of it, whilst keeping the film somewhat light and whimsical, with a few darker and sad scenes. It’s an important message that is portrayed in a way that is easy to digest for younger audiences – let’s just say, there’s a scene that resembles one from The Lion King, and the tears were streaming at my big age of 25. 

As the case unfurls, the film remains engaging and maintains its intrigue for both kids and adults, offering an almost Knives Out-like mystery. The twists genuinely kept me guessing throughout, and I was caught off guard by the final act. The Sheep Detectives is a charming and well-conceived woolly whodunit that fuses humour, love and mortality in a sweet-natured film for all of the family.