Although the novel upon which The Sheep Detectives is based, Three Bags Full, was published in 2005 — long before the Knives Out franchise became a thing — it’s hard not to imagine someone in Hollywood pitching the script to this movie as a lot like a Knives Out movie, but instead of Daniel Craig solving the crime … it’s sheep. And whoever that person was that convinced Amazon MGM to make this deserves an award, because not only is The Sheep Detectives akin to the Knives Out movies (the good parts of them), but it’s also one of the most delightful and heartfelt films to be released this year so far.
It begins simply enough. Outside the extremely small English village of Denbrook, a shepherd named George (sweetly played by Hugh Jackman) cares for his flock. Each day George feeds the sheep and provides them medicine, and each night he reads to the attentive flock from one of his treasured mystery novels, though George doesn’t really believe they can comprehend a word he is saying. On this point, however, George is wrong, as after each nightly reading, the sheep argue over who the guilty party in the story will turn out to be. Lily, the smartest member of the flock, always guesses right.
As the flock carry out their nightly arguments, we learn that they have certain peculiarities. For instance, no sheep is thought to die. Instead, when the time comes, they supposedly turn into a cloud and go to graze in the sky. They also have the rather harsh belief that any lamb born during the winter is to be shunned because, well, that’s just how things have always been done. Finally, it turns out sheep possess the ability to completely forget anything they want to at the count of three, a handy talent when one doesn’t want to recall anything unpleasant.
All these things are put to the test, though, when the sheep awaken one morning to find their beloved George has been murdered. Their first instinct is naturally to count to three, but Mopple, the one sheep cursed with never being able to forget, insists that not remembering George would be the greatest disservice they could ever do to their shepherd. After some haggling, Lily finally agrees, deciding instead to use the detecting rules they’ve learned from listening to all those stories to help the village’s lone inept policeman solve the case. Unfortunately, the only ones Lily can rely on for any real help in carrying out this plan is the nearly useless Mopple, a sullen solitary ram named Sebastian, and the unnamed winter lamb the flock has cast out to live alone under George’s trailer. There’s also the little problem that none of the humans in town can understand anything Lily says.
The mystery elements of the movie are surprisingly well done for a movie about sheep. As befits such a story, the film is full of quirky characters who make up the list of suspects, a group that includes the suspicious-acting local innkeeper, the sheep-killing town butcher, a neighboring shepherd leasing land from George, a newly arrived stranger, and a priest with a secret. Don’t let that last one worry you as the secret is nothing sordid. However, sour-faced saints may need to be warned that there is a brief humorous conversation between the sheep as they stand outside the village church, perplexed as to how the God the humans worship can simultaneously be a lamb, a shepherd, and a piece of bread. G.K. Chesterton would likely have smiled at their confusion over such a paradox.
What the venerable writer would definitely have appreciated is the movie’s handling of its deeper subject matter. For the most part, the film remains whimsical, playing into the goofiness of its premise. However, there are moments when the flock must confront their own prejudices, the reality of mortality, and the consequences of trying to forget anything disagreeable that hit as hard as any human drama. Perhaps, along with the detective novels, George should have read the sheep some Chesterton, particularly those passages in The Ethics of Elfland where he argues that remembering how close existence so often comes to non-existence or ruin can heighten joy and prevent taking goodness for granted. It might have saved the flock from having to learn some lessons the hard way.
Okay, it may sound silly that a movie about sheep trying to solve a mystery can cause one to start ruminating on the works of Chesterton and life in general, but such is the strength of The Sheep Detectives. It’s genuinely funny and you’ll feel good after watching it, but some of that good feeling is the kind that can only come after a bit of sadness. Go see The Sheep Detectives prepared to smile, but maybe bring a hanky as well, just in case.
The Sheep Detectives is in cinemas now.
