Editor’s Note: Freeline Media movie critic Mike Fried has caught the new film The Sheep Detectives. Does he think it’s bahhhhdd — or a winner? Read on!

By MIKE FRIED

The Sheep Detectives

4.5/5

George Hardy is a sheep farmer who is very content with his life in the quaint little town of Denbrook in England. He loves his sheep so much that he not only names them (“All sheep should have a name,” he says) but he also reads them murder mysteries every night.

When George winds up getting killed, the sheep take it upon themselves to solve his murder.

Of course, they talk to each other, and among themselves, they form words, even though for humans it’s just a series of bleats. And, like any good murder mystery, there’s a long list of human suspects: Caleb, another sheep farmer; Beth, a hotel owner in town; the reverend Hillcoate; and the oddly named butcher Ham. And there’s George’s daughter, Rebecca, who he put up for adoption many years ago, who shows up in Denbrook right when George is murdered.

Despite the fact that this is an Amazon original film (I groaned when I saw that on the screen, given their recent misses), it’s an absolutely wondrous cinematic experience. A 100% murder mystery, the film has sheep who seem to be smarter than local police constable Tim Derry, marvelously played by Succession’s Nicholas Braun. This might be his best role thus far. Braun, for me, was the lead among the human cast, and he carried out the role with a great deal of humor (and a bit of dumbness); however, his dumbness is coming from being the only constable in such a small town with no crime ever.

But with the help of the sheep, he’s able to solve the murder. And as the case draws to its conclusion and we become wiser, constable Derry becomes wiser as well.

Not surprisingly, the sheep in this movie are fully CGI; however, because the on-screen animals are taken from scans of real sheep, the results are absolutely fantastic and look photo-realistic.

And the voice casting did not hurt either. From Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the wise Lily who spearheads the murder investigation to Bryan Cranston as the loner Sebastian who has seen his share (shear?) of battle, to Chris O’Dowd as Mopple, the sheep that forgets nothing, the voice casting is perfection. Brett Goldstein from Ted Lasso has a very fun twist as he plays twin rams named Reggie and Ronnie, which happened to be the names of the twin Kray Brothers who terrorized London back in the 1950s and 1960s. Of course, no flock of sheep would be compleat (bleat, get it?) without the voice talents of Patrick Stewart as the oldest sheep of the flock.

What really made this movie work was the absolutely charming and well-thought-out script by Craig Mazin. The notion that George the Shepherd read his murder mysteries to his sheep and they learned from it is in genius, and the humor is extraordinary. The movie is as charming as it is hilarious. I will not ruin it for you, but there’s a scene with the sheep trying to cross the road that is laugh out loud funny. Mazin’s script makes the film a droll, cozy murder mystery with the drama in the film allowing the comedy to land well. 

The human cast does not suck, either. Hugh Jackman as farmer George, our murder victim, is absolutely terrific in a role that he seems to have been born to play. Nicholas Galitzine is terrific as a reporter sent to the town of Denbrook to cover its cultural festival, which turns out to be a couple of booths, but sees that he’s onto a bigger story. Molly Gordon is terrific as the daughter who becomes the prime murder suspect. The rest of the cast, with the exception of Braun, is kind of disposable. Don’t Get me wrong: They are good but they have very small roles and almost play their roles as caricatures of villagers. I felt there was more character development of supporting characters in the movie Hot Fuzz than in this film.

Plus, Emma Thompson and Hong Chau – two great actresses — as a possibly shady lawyer and the hotel proprietress who might have a connection to George are woefully underused. 

Because it’s a PG rated movie but a murder mystery, is it suitable for kids? I’d have to answer yes, with a caveat. Each parent knows their child and how they react to certain things. If your child would be upset at the notion of a murder, then certainly don’t bring them to see the movie; however, kids ages 9-10 or so or older would get a real kick out of this film. And the film exploring grief in a new way, by not focusing too much on the details of George’s murder but just the conception that he is gone, might help kids understand and process loss. 

Now, that’s not to say that this is just a kid’s movie because most decidedly it is not. It is a movie for adults that just so happen to have kids as an audience as well — and that is such a rarity these days to have a movie that the kids can enjoy while the parents aren’t bored out of their minds. It might just be the first murder mystery made for kids and adults.

Is this movie as good as Project Hail Mary, which for me is the best movie so far in 2026? The short answer is no but it comes pretty damn close. What makes this movie so magical is its script and I would be surprised if it did not cop an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay.

“I still think it was the maid!”

WATCH IT!

Michael Fried has no formal training in movies, except having watched over 26,000+ movies — if not more — in his 60-plus years on this planet, starting with Goldfinger as his first cinema experience. He knows what he likes and he knows what he doesn’t like, and it’s quite often different from the conventional wisdom. He knows that the best franchise is Godzilla and he loves action movies and comedies. He has not been nominated for any awards except some boring insurance awards which has no applicability to movies (with the possible exceptions of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and John Cassavettes’ Big Trouble). He is part of a team that won the 1980 SUNY Albany Trivia content by correctly guessing the question, “Who played the president of Klopstockia in Million Dollar Legs?” So he has that going for him, which is nice.

Contact Mike at moviemike3@yahoo.com and mike.fried@yahoo.com.