Dallas Film Now.

Julia Louise-Dreyfus, Nicolas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Emma Thompson and Hugh Jackman star in the live-action/animated hybrid mystery comedy. 

Gentle and wooly, The Sheep Detective is a classic British drawing-room mystery, cozy and comfortable. 

Craig Mazin, known early in his career as the co-writer of comedies Senseless, Scary Movie 3 and The Hangover Part II, before turning to elevated drama with Chernobyl and action-horror videogame adaptation with The Last of Us, adapts a bestselling German-language novel by Leonie Swann titled Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, first published in 2005. The book reportedly features depressed loner shepherd George reading his flock “romance adventure novels and textbooks on sheep diseases” at the end of the day.  

Directed by veteran animator Kyle Balda (Minions: The Rise of Gru, 2o22), the film begins with shepherd George (Hugh Jackman) as a loner, pining for his wife, and writing to his beloved Rebecca (Molly Gordon), whose imminent arrival he eagerly awaits. Instead of romance adventure novels, he happily reads mysteries to his flock every evening, which informs the ability of Lily (Julia Louise-Dreyfus) to deduce that George has been murdered when his body turns up dead one morning. 

Lily applies deductive reasoning to the evidence, though her amateur detective work is bolstered by her personal connection with George. She has observed him over the years, and has seen abundant evidence of his loving care of the flock, in sharp contrast to the farmer next door, who keeps pestering George to sell him his flock. 

George isn’t in it for the money; instead, he has a deep and abiding love for the sheep as individuals, giving them names with true meaning, even if for no one other than himself. His solitary nature, and his reluctance to shy away from human contact, has led the townspeople and his neighboring farmers to conclude that he is a misanthrope (hating mankind as a whole). Lily and her fellow sheep, however, can see that he doesn’t hate everybody; it’s only the individuals who behave in an unkind or shady manner that he studiously avoids. 

To protect themselves from harmful events and thus ensure their mental peace and calm, the flock has developed the ability to erase unpleasantries from their minds instantly and entirely; they merely have to agree on that course of action, which is usually led by Lily as leader of the flock. After George’s murder, however, before they can perform the group mind wipe, Sebastian the (literal) black sheep (voiced by Bryan Cranston) convinces Lily that they collectively owe George an investigation into who killed him, and why. 

It’s a lovely twist on a garden-variety British mystery movie — or television or streaming show in recent times — where the victim is honorable, even if not entirely beloved, and his friends or family members become amateur detectives to right the wrong that has been committed. The voice-acting cast is quite strong, including Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Brett Goldstein, Bella Ramsey, Rhys Darby, and Sir Patrict Stewart; their ability to distinguish their voices according to the character’s personality makes it easy to figure out who’s talking and why. 

In the human world, the actors recognize that their characters only think that they are the leading players. That modesty makes their performances all the more believable, authentic, and convincing. 

Nicolas Braun (Succession) plays Tim Doyle, the only local police officer for the community, with winning grace and modesty; he’s not as bright as the sheep, but he’s sufficiently modest to appreciate their invaluable help. Nicolas Galatzine, as a reporter, Molly Gordon, as George’s beloved Rebecca, and Emma Thompson, as George’s lawyer, are all quite effective in their roles. Hong Chau is underused as a shopkeeper with a personal connection to George. 

Director Kyle Balda often seems to be playing traffic cop more than anything else, as he must make sure to leave room for the animated creatures in their interactions with each other and with humans. Together with the talented crew, he nonetheless guides the gentle mystery to its expected destination with finesse and skill, making for a family-friendly entertainment that should be especially appreciated by all those who love smart sheep and gentle humor. 

The film opens Friday, May 8, 2026, throughout the Metroplex, only in movie theaters.  For more information about the film, visit the official site.