“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. This film has a similar combination of idyllic country settings, an assortment of vivid characters, and meaningful stakes. Also like “Babe,” it is genuinely for all ages (except for the youngest children—it is a story about a murder and acknowledges where meat comes from). It is accessible enough for younger viewers without condescending to them, yet complex enough to engage an adult audience.
The film features first-class talent at all levels, acting, screenplay (from “Dune’s” Craig Mazin, based on a German book called Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann), directing (the first live-action film from “Minions” director Kyle Balda), production design by Suzie Davies, visual effects, and score by Christophe Beck. The duo behind “Project Hail Mary,” Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, serve as executive producers on this film, again with consummate skill, combining an exciting story with humor almost entirely based on character rather than situation. And don’t forget the underdog (in this case, under-sheep?) characters we want to succeed.
We are in the world of the movie even before the story starts because the MGM lion does not roar; he baas like a lamb. Then we visit George (Hugh Jackman), a shepherd who lives in a mobile home on a huge field of bucolic perfection, with no other signs of civilization in sight. George writes a letter about his belief that the secret to happiness is sheep, and “the peace that comes from caring for the kindest animals on earth.” He loves feeding the sheep, shearing them, giving them bright blue medicine for Orf disease, and reading murder mystery stories aloud to them every night. (It is a treat to hear Aussie Jackman switch into plummy British RP as a character in the story.)
George explains in a letter that each has a name and a personality, including the fluffy diva Cloud (Regina Hall), the shaggy Wool-Eyes (Rhys Darby), the magisterial Sir Ritchfield (Patrick Stewart), pugnacious twin rams both voiced by Brett Goldstein, and Mopple (Chris O’Dowd), who has the best memory. His two favorites are Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), a loner who prefers to look down at the flock from a high peak, and the ewe George calls the smartest sheep in the world, Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).
The visual effects work here is impeccable because it is invisible. A lot of films master textures like fur and wool, and even movement and muscle, but a bigger challenge is to create believable bulk and weight. These sheep seamlessly integrate with the world around them, whether they are walking, being held, or ramming a car.
As much as George loves his sheep, he assumes they do not understand the stories he reads to them. But after he goes to bed, we see that they are following every detail. We hear them speculate about who will be identified as the guilty party, but only Lily gets it right. The voice performers give full, layered personalities to the sheep, especially Louis-Dreyfus, O’Dowd, Cranston, and Hall, plus the children voicing the flock’s adorable tiny lambs.
When George is murdered, Lily believes that the stories they have heard give her all she needs to solve the mystery. And it looks like she will have to because the sole police officer in the tiny town is Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), who seems barely able to write a traffic ticket and has never investigated a serious crime. An eager young reporter named Elliot Mathews (Nicholas Galitzine), who has arrived to cover a “cultural festival” that turns out to have just three small exhibits, offers to help with this bigger story.
There are two other new arrivals: Rebecca Hampsted (Molly Gordon), an American en route to meet her biological father, George, for the first time, and Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson at her crisp, imperious governessy best), who arrives for one of the key elements of any good cozy mystery: the reading of a will, and the significant surprises within. (The real unsolved mysteries of this film are why they refer to Ms. Harbottle as a lawyer instead of a solicitor, and why she reveals the value of the estate in dollars instead of pounds. But I suppose these are understandable concessions to the US market.)
George’s will refers to some of the people in the town by name, but it does not reveal which names went with his descriptions: “a fool, a bad shepherd, a winter lamb, and two murderers.” As Lily and Mopple try to solve the crime and convince the humans, we will learn what he meant. Lily will have to do more than follow the clues. The world view of the sheep is so limited that they have never placed their hooves on anything but grass (I won’t spoil what happens the first time they place their feet on asphalt or how Sebastian explains what a church is).
The sheep have never questioned the tradition that only spring lambs can be a part of the flock, even when George gave at least one winter lamb the tenderest of care. Most importantly, the sheep (except for Mopple) can choose to forget anything scary, sad, or unpleasant. Learning to welcome painful and difficult feelings as a part of being fully alive and present is handled with delicacy and insight.
Mazin respects the fundamentals of a “fair play” mystery (meaning all of the clues are there for the discerning), with some delicious twists. It is well worth watching the behind-the-scenes feature to see the care that went into every detail of the film. The diligence, imagination, warmth, and delight that shine from every part of this story make its world a place we feel lucky to live in for a while.
