The Sheep Detectives

The Sheep Detectives brims with charm, wit, and a twisty murder mystery that can only be solved by the most endearing set of farm animals since Farmer Hoggett said “That’ll do” to Babe the pig.

Like any good murder mystery movie, the real fun lies in watching the performances and taking the overall journey. “The Sheep Detective” scores big on both of those counts. This is one of the most enjoyable movies of the year.

The Sheep Detectives, a family-friendly whodunit that marries pastoral whimsy with unexpectedly weighty themes, is a rare, woolly beast.

The evidence adds up cleverly and the script doesn’t coast on its status as a nice family movie in order to avoid delivering a satisfying conclusion. It’s meaty, like a roast leg of, well, you know.

There’s plenty to like, and this starter kit for detective fiction ought to serve as more of a net positive for kids than another soulless reboot of existing IP. But it’s a shame to settle for merely good when something great was very clearly a plausible outcome.

The film does aim for something a little deeper by also making it about the sheep being forced to acknowledge and experience the realities of death, and there are a couple of moments of sheep-based existential revelation that are surprisingly moving. At its best it even occasionally recalls vintage Aardman, particularly something like the original Chicken Run film.

No matter how many witty lines (there are a few) are placed into the mouths of postproduction beasties, they never seem real, nor do they interact credibly with their human co-stars (think Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars, but on all fours).

If a sheep can be a detective, then I can be a Japanese schoolgirl.10/10 movie.

The Sheep Detectives was a pretty interesting watch. The biggest thing it has going for it is how different it feels. The whole concept is quirky and original, and it doesn't look or play out like your typical mystery movie. That uniqueness kept me interested even when the story itself wasn't doing anything particularly **** mystery is enjoyable enough, but it follows a fairly familiar structure. I found myself predicting a lot of the story beats as it went along, so there weren't many moments where I felt genuinely surprised. The pacing is decent, though, and the movie never really became boring.What I appreciated most was the atmosphere and the overall style. It has its own personality, and that's probably what I'll remember most about it. The humor lands here and there, and the characters are likable enough to carry the story, even if they aren't especially memorable.I will say the ending caught me off guard, though. I wasn't expecting it to go in that direction, and it gave the movie a stronger finish than I thought it was building toward. It doesn't completely change my opinion of the film, but it definitely left me with a better impression than I had for most of the runtime.Overall, The Sheep Detectives is a perfectly average movie with a creative concept and a nice atmosphere, even if the story itself stays pretty conventional. A 5/10 from me — worth watching once, but not something I'd rush to revisit.

Not as poignant as I was led to believe. Fine, amusing, and cute, but not much more.

(Mauro Lanari) It's elite. I just don't know who for. Etymologically, quite an egregious flick. 5½

I only gave this 2 stars, as there are certainly worse movies out there, but wow was this awful. Nothing interesting happens in the entire film. There are far too many "tender moments" between the sheep, so much so that it is easy to forget what the movie is even about. Lots of formulaic humor; the type you'd expect to see in a b-movie for kids. Think of a movie you saw as a kid and thought was "okay" in the theater, but when you went to watch it again as an adult you thought, "OMG that did not age well at ALL." This is one of those moves. This is a boring, uninspired film that unsuccessfully uses its premise alone to try to drive an entire film. Audiences are sure to forget this movie ever even existed by 2027.