A Unique Blend of Comedy and Mystery
There’s an intriguing connection between the intense 2019 mini-series Chernobyl and The Sheep Detectives, though it’s not immediately clear how to conceptualize it. Writer Craig Mazin, who created Chernobyl and its bleak spiritual counterpart, The Last of Us, has now adapted Leonie Swann’s German bestseller Three Bags Full for the screen. This film features a flock of sheep solving their shepherd’s murder.
Mazin, known for his work on the Scary Movie and Hangover franchises, is joined by Minions director Kyle Balda. However, the version of Mazin who coaxed somber performances from Pedro Pascal and Jared Harris seems to be in charge here more than one would expect for a film about sheep detectives. There’s a deep meditation on morality and memory being expressed by CGI creatures that, while visually detailed, never interact physically with anything around them.
This approach can feel overwhelming at times, but the film’s all-hands-aboard effort to take such an absurd premise and insist it be about something offers its Midsomer Murders-lite world a sense of weight and substance. The melodrama helps ground the comedy, and there’s genuine charm to be found in the film.
Introducing the Characters
Hugh Jackman stars as George Hardy, a farmer who reads detective novels each night to his flock. He has made enemies with every local in the village of Denbrook, including the rival shepherd (Tosin Cole), the butcher (Conleth Hill), the innkeeper (Hong Chau), and the priest (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith). When George is found dead, the smartest of his ewes, Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), must solve the crime and grapple with the concept of death.
Sheep have the ability to erase their memories on command, except for one, Mopple (voiced by Chris O’Dowd), who believes that they and their predecessors turn into clouds after death. Lily also needs to figure out how to share her detective work with the local constabulary, Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun from Succession), who doesn’t quite nail the accent but whose wide-eyed stammer feels deeply and spiritually British.
A Cast of Familiar Faces
Sheep understand English but can’t talk back, so Tim has to deal with new arrivals like George’s long-lost daughter (Molly Gordon), his lawyer (Emma Thompson), and a meddlesome local journalist (Nicholas Galitzine). The village is now filled with sheep, creating a cloven-hoofed take on Hitchcock’s The Birds.
Packing the film with famous faces and voices—other sheep are played by Patrick Stewart, Regina Hall, The Last of Us’s Bella Ramsey, and Bryan Cranston doing a note-for-note rehash of his Isle of Dogs role—offers the opportunity to delicately balance a tone that exists somewhere between Babe: Pig in the City (1998) and Clue (1985). It also lands what might be the first funny “why did the chicken cross the road?” gag in a decade.
A Distinctive American Take on British Rural Life
The film presents a distinctly American viewpoint on British rural life, with a cheery, fairytale colour palette provided by costume designer Rosa Dias. Only an American would name a pair of fighting rams in a family film after the infamous Kray twins (both voiced by Brett Goldstein) and forget that the Anglicans rejected transubstantiation. Despite this, The Sheep Detectives could certainly have done worse for a breezy, easy murder mystery. It could have been written by Harlan Coben.
Film Details
Directed by Kyle Balda, the film stars Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, and Brett Goldstein. Rated PG, it runs for 109 minutes.
‘The Sheep Detectives’ is in cinemas from 8 May, with special previews between 2 and 4 May.
