Directed by Kyle Balda — Screenplay by Craig Mazin.
Based on the German novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, Kyle Balda’s The Sheep Detectives follows a flock of sheep living peacefully near the English village of Denbrook. Every night, their beloved shepherd, George Hardy (played by Hugh Jackman), reads them murder mystery novels that, unbeknownst to George, they’re hooked on. When one night, the sheep find George lifeless outside his trailer, they are devastated and soon realize that perhaps George was actually murdered. Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), an intelligent sheep who knows murder mysteries particularly well, teams up with the recluse black sheep Sebastian (voiced by Bryan Cranston) — but also Mopple (voiced by Chris O’Dowd), a sheep that, unlike most of the flock, is unable to forget things whenever he feels like it — in an effort to help steer the law enforcement investigation, led by clumsy and inexperienced officer Tim Derry (played by Nicholas Braun), in the right direction.
The Sheep Detectives is the live-action directorial debut of Kyle Balda, an animation director of, among other things, multiple Minions films and an animator on films like Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 2. His talent at orchestrating a film for the whole family translated well from the world of animation to the world of live-action. Incredibly, the screenplay was written by the co-creator of the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us, who also created HBO’s Chernobyl. Despite a writer of those dark adult shows being attached to it, this is a delightful family film that sometimes feels like a live-action Pixar film; such is the level of smart storytelling enjoyable for all ages here. Of course, it’s not all live-action as the sheep are mostly, if not entirely, animated here. For myself, the computer-generated images worked relatively flawlessly, but even if you initially raise your eyebrow at it, I think it is an easy thing to adjust to and accept, as the level of storytelling and vocal performances just works at a very high level.
Like I know others have said, it is basically Chris Noonan’s Babe meets Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, though with an English countryside setting that feels more similar to Wake Up Dead Man. This means that it is very much a murder mystery film that will work as your child’s first murder mystery flick, and it is a charming introduction to the genre. We hear sheep talk amongst themselves and communicate with human voices, while humans just hear animal noises, and that particular balancing act is done well, as even though the more compelling characters are the sheep, the more human scenes still have top-notch actors doing solid work. In his few scenes, Hugh Jackman creates a likable shepherd character, who you can understand why the sheep miss immediately. American actor Nicholas Braun’s British accent is surprisingly good. Plus, Emma Thompson, who is playing George’s solicitor, is clearly enjoying herself here and is very much larger than life in a fun way in her part. Then we have the actors doing voices for sheep, and the main players are all really good here, with Louis-Dreyfus, Cranston, and O’Dowd all leaving positive impressions. I’ll add that Brett Goldstein is really fun here as the voice of two twin sheep who like to bash their heads into things, and that I thought it was really fun to hear Sir Patrick Stewart voice an older, alarmist sheep.
In addition to strong animal animation, mouth movements, voice performances, and live-action performers, I also think the comedy is a highlight. It’s silly fun stuff, like seeing a chicken crossing the road like it’s nothing after we see sheep stress over it, as if it’s the craziest challenge they’ve ever faced. There’s also a Scream-esque consciousness of the formula and tropes of the murder mystery genre, which I quite enjoyed. On top of that, I think it is also deeply emotionally affecting. There are great lines of dialogue and exchanges between the sheep about what they believe happens when they die, why they choose to forget (and why one should always try to remember to keep loved ones alive), and I think everything about Bryan Cranston’s black sheep character is really smartly written and executed. I did not expect to shed a tear over this movie, but it did get to me, and I think it will get to many people. It’s really fascinating how they designed this to partly be a film about how we mustn’t bottle up our feelings and forget things, and that we need to feel our feelings and recognize our experiences for what they mean.
Parents should know that there is one relatively dark and scary sequence, but while it is effective for what it tries to get across, it’s not bloody or in your face about it; dark realities and fates for sheep in other flocks are referenced and implied. Really, the one issue that I have with the film, other than perhaps the mystery not being airtight or complicated (which is really more of a nitpick), is that I think the way it switches perspectives between the sheep and some townspeople sometimes feels like a cheat. I feel like they should’ve stuck solely to the perspectives of the sheep and the shepherd. But, ultimately, I think this is a really smartly designed murder mystery film for the entire family that is delightfully charming and which works in every way you need it to. For me, it’s one of the strongest live-action family films to come out after Paddington 2.
8 out of 10
– Review written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
