George (Hugh Jackman) is a reclusive but kindhearted shepherd living in the small town of Denbrook. He cares for and loves his flock. Each day George wakes up early to feed the sheep, sheer them, give them medicine, and provide them with some entertainment. Each evening before bed, he reads the sheep some sort of detective story or whodunnit, even though he knows they can’t possibly understand what he’s saying… or can they?!

George has given each member of the flock a name, including twin rams Ronnie & Reggie (Brett Goldstein), the very proud and dignified Sir Ritchfield (Patrick Stewart), fluffy diva Cloud (Regina Hall), small and curious Zara (Bella Ramsey), patient Mopple (Chris O’Dowd) and shaggy Wool-Eyes (Rhys Darby). While George says all of his sheep are special, there are two that are the most special—the biggest ram Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), who’s a bit of a loner and often wanders away for a while before coming back; and Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the smartest sheep, who always seems to know what he’s thinking and feeling. Lily often figures out the murder mystery stories before George even gets to the reveal. Also living on the farm are three young lambs, Daisy (Aroop Shergill), Oliver (Jasper Ambrose) and Pickles (Ishi Agrawal), and one unnamed Winter Lamb (Tommy Birchall), who doesn’t quite fit in.

George keeps to himself most of the time, as he doesn’t get along with several of the townsfolk. He doesn’t really like fellow shepherd Caleb Merrow (Tosin Cole) or butcher Ham Gilyard (Conleth Hill). He doesn’t think innkeeper Beth Pennock (Hong Chau) likes him (though she might actually be in love with him). He thinks policeman Officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun) is an idiot (and he may be right), and he has a complicated relationship with Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)—as can be seen as George wanders into the church during a prayer service, only to slam a rolled wad of bills into the collection plate and storm out.

One morning, the sheep find George dead in his field, and Lily is insistent that he was murdered, just like the characters in the books he would read to them. She suggests that it is up to the sheep to solve what happened and why. With all the books George has read to them over the years, they most certainly have the detective skills to do so. However, getting the humans to figure it out as well—especially Officer Timmdash;will be more difficult. But first they will need to leave the farm—something they have never done before—if they are going to check on the suspects. If life follows the books, all of the suspects should be at the reading of the will, and George’s lawyer Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson) has just arrived in town to do so. Also recently making their way to Denbrook are George’s estranged daughter from America, Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon), who is named in the will; and junior reporter for the Gazette, Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine), who was sent to do a story on the Denbrook Cultural Festival; but now has something juicier to report on.

Can Lily and the other sheep figure out who murdered their beloved shepherd?!

I found The Sheep Detectives to be a really fun and entertaining movie. You would expect a film with talking animal characters to be geared towards children. While the movie is family-friendly, it never feels like a kid’s movie. While the animals work to solve this murder mystery, they also tackle topics like grief, loss, memory and death. But at the core of the movie is this delightful tale of these sheep trying to solve a murder—one that will keep the audience guessing as they try to put the pieces together along with Lily. While some viewers may solve the case early on, it kept me guessing until the end.

The film feels like your typical cozy British mystery, set in this beautiful small town with lots of quirky characters, each with some sort of potential motive for carrying out the crime. There are lots of red herrings and twists and turns as the investigation plays out. It’s so well done that you almost forget that you’re watching a sheep lead the charge to solve this murder.

The Sheep Detectives is wonderfully cast, with an so many recognizable voices bringing the animals to life. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, VEEP) and Chris O’Dowd voice the two main sheep heading up the investigation. The animals actually look quite believable—I don’t know if they were real, animatronic or completely CGI, but you really believe that these sheep are talking to one another and interacting with the human characters. When the animals are speaking, it looks and feels so natural that you kind of forget that these are sheep that are “talking”, and just think of them like any other character.

The human cast is also wonderful. Hugh Jackman has all of his usual charm, and it’s sad to see the character of George go so soon. However, quickly filling the void is Nicholas Braun (Succession), who dons an excellent British accent, and is hilarious as this dimwitted officer who doesn’t even seem to know the basics of carrying out a crime scene investigation. He constantly needs to be helped along by Lily and Mopple, and just comes to accept and not question the fact that these sheep seem to be leading his investigation.

Amazon MGM Studios/Alliance Home Entertainment have released The Sheep Detectives on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review, which looks and sounds great. The video presentation captures the beauty of Denbrook, with bright beautiful colors, such as the lush green fields, blue sky, and the fluffy white wool of the sheep. The texture of the animals’ fur is also captured with an excellent level of detail, making these sheep feel real. The film’s audio track is also very impressive, with clear dialogue throughout, as well as providing an immersive ambiance—whether it’s the general sounds of nature filling the room, or the thunderclaps of a stormy night cracking overhead.

The Blu-ray release includes just a single barebones disc, which does not contain any bonus material. The disc is placed in a standard HD keepcase along with a carboard slipcover. No digital copy code is included.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:49:04)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.00:1
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1), English Descriptive Audio, French Canadian 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French Canadian, French, German, Dutch, Spanish

Extras:

There is no bonus material included.

Final Thoughts:

The Sheep Detectives is a fun and delightful film that is family-friendly but not dumbed down to be considered a kid’s movie. It features an amazing cast—both providing the voices of the animals as well as the live-action humans. The result is a cozy British murder mystery-style story with some really fun talking animals leading the investigation. Amazon’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but unfortunately doesn’t include any bonus material. That said, the release is still work a look based on the quality of the film itself. For those who want to check out the movie before a blind buy, The Sheep Detectives is currently streaming on the Prime Video service.