THE SHEEP DETECTIVES (2026)

Starring Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, Mandeep Dhillon  and the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein and Rhys Darby.

Screenplay by Craig Mazin.

Directed by Kyle Balda.

Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios. 109 minutes. Rated PG.

In general I tend to avoid movies with talking animals or talking babies. After all for all of the good ones – which really only incapsulates the Babe movies and the Paddington films – there are dozens of insufferable ones, like the Cats & Dogs, Dr. Doolittle, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, G-Force, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Underdog, the new version of Animal Farm, the Buddies movies, and many more.

The good news is The Sheep Detectives turns out to be one of the better ones. It’s a cheesy family film, but it has enough heart and clever ideas to make it better than it has any right to be. It’s mostly a film for kids, but it’s nice to find one that actually respects the intellect of their audience and also has enough of a fun mystery plot to keep the adults engaged.

It’s the sort of film that seems like a joke when you describe it out loud – a flock of sheep solve crimes – yet somehow plays its premise with enough sincerity, charm, and shaggy‑dog (shaggy‑sheep?) determination that you stop laughing at it and start laughing with it.

What elevates the film beyond its gimmick is its tone. It never leans too hard into parody, nor does it pretend it’s reinventing the detective genre. Instead, it settles into a gentle, offbeat rhythm – think Sunday‑afternoon comfort viewing with just enough oddness to keep you alert.

It starts out with Hugh Jackman playing a shepherd on the Scottish plains who every night puts his sheep to sleep by reading aloud to them from his favorite mystery novels. When it appears that the farmer has been murdered, his flock – voiced by such actors as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall and Patrick Stewart – decide to help the local constable solve the case.

The mystery is fun, but not exactly hard to figure out, sort of like an old episode of Murder She Wrote if Angela Lansbury were a Scottish CGI sheep. And although the flock was apparently completely created by special effects, they are surprisingly charismatic as characters and exhibit more subtle character nuances and delve into interesting themes which may not originally feel appropriate to the storyline.

The human characters – played by Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau and Emma Thompson – are mostly eccentrically charming, if not exactly deep or sophisticated.

From a filmmaking standpoint, director Kyle Balda brings a surprisingly refined touch to the material. Having cut his teeth on the Despicable Me and Minions universe, he knows how to stage broad comedy, but here he leans into something gentler and more atmospheric. The Scottish countryside is shot with a warmth that borders on storybook, all rolling fog and golden‑hour pastures, and the CGI flock blends into the live‑action world far more seamlessly than you’d expect from a movie built on such a goofy premise.

Craig Mazin’s screenplay also deserves credit for threading the needle between whimsy and sincerity – the jokes land, but they never overwhelm the mystery, and the pacing has a cozy, almost analog feel that’s rare in modern family films. Even the score, a mix of lilting folk motifs and soft noir flourishes, helps sell the idea that this woolly ensemble really could crack a case.

There is every reason to not expect The Sheep Detective to work. This makes the fact that it is entertaining as it is a bit of a small miracle. In a world where way too many family films are jaded and obnoxious, The Sheep Detective grazes in the tall grass of sweet whimsy and charm.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2026 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: May 7, 2026.