The Sheep Detectives

Plot

In the English village of Denbrook, shepherd George Hardy spends his time reading murder mystery novels to his flock of sheep. The sheep live in blissful ignorance, believing that death only exists in fiction and that they turn into clouds at the end of their lives. When faced with an uncomfortable situation, they can will themselves to forget. They discriminate against an orphan lamb born in winter rather than the typical spring.

One morning, George is discovered dead outside his trailer. Reporter Elliot Matthews believes he was murdered and encourages Tim Derry, the town's only police officer, to investigate. Tim concludes that George was poisoned. The sheep decide to solve the mystery on their own, led by crime aficionado ewe Lily, the ram Mopple who always keeps his memories, and stoic loner Sebastian whom George rescued from a carnival.

During the reading of George's will—attended by Elliot, Tim, George's solicitor Lydia Harbottle, Reverend Hillcoate, butcher Ham Gilyard, innkeeper Beth Pennock, and neighbouring shepherd Caleb Merrow—they learn that George had a twin son and daughter who were sent away for adoption after their mother died in childbirth. The daughter, Rebecca Hampstead, also in attendance, reconnected with George and had just arrived from the United States to visit him for the first time. Lydia ousts Elliot before calling George's son, Peter Van Vuuren, who lives in South Africa, so he can attend remotely. They learn George was secretly a millionaire after selling the patent for an orf medicine he invented. The new will awards his fortune to Rebecca, replacing an old will which donated it to an animal rights charity.

Cloud, a member of the flock, reveals she found one of Rebecca's bangles the night of the murder, contradicting Rebecca's claim of never having met her father. The sheep lead Tim to the meadow where he finds the bangle. He then discovers the type of berry used to poison George squashed in the soles of Rebecca's boots, and she is placed under arrest.

Lily and Mopple, soon to be taken in by Caleb, visit his meadow to meet their future flock mates, but discover that Caleb has been collaborating with Ham to slaughter sheep for meat. They are attacked and chased by Caleb's vicious German Shepherds, but Sebastian returns and fights the dogs in order to protect Lily and Mopple. Despite suffering grievous wounds from the dogs during the fight, Sebastian manages to drive them off before dying peacefully from his injuries. Lily realises that death is real, and that she willed herself to forget every time a sheep close to her died.

Cast

Live action cast

Hugh Jackman as George Hardy, a shepherd who is mysteriously found dead

Nicholas Braun as Tim Derry, a clumsy local police officer

Nicholas Galitzine as Elliot Matthews, an intrepid junior reporter

Molly Gordon as Rebecca Hampstead

Hong Chau as Beth Pennock, the innkeeper

Emma Thompson as Lydia Harbottle, George's solicitor

Tosin Cole as Caleb Merrow, George's neighbour and fellow shepherd

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Reverend Hillcoate, a priest

Conleth Hill as Ham Gilyard, a butcher and Caleb's collaborator

Mandeep Dhillon as Postwoman Jo, a mail carrier

Michael Wildman as Frank, a police officer

Sheep and lamb voices

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Lily, an intelligent Shetland ewe trying to solve the mystery of George's death

Bryan Cranston as Sebastian, an imposing black Castlemilk Moorit ram and former underground prize fighter at a carnival

Chris O'Dowd as Mopple, a Merino ram who never forgets things

Regina Hall as Cloud, a North Country Cheviot ewe who is proud of being the fluffiest sheep in George's meadow

Patrick Stewart as Sir Richfield, an elderly Boreray ram

Bella Ramsey as Zora, a curious Herdwick lamb with brown wool

Rhys Darby as Wool-Eyes, an accident-prone Lincoln Longwool ram

Brett Goldstein as Ronnie and Reggie, twin Norfolk Horn rams named after the Kray twins who enjoy bashing things with their horns

Laraine Newman as a "fainting sheep"

Aroop Shergill as Daisy, a lamb

Jasper Ambrose as Oliver, a lamb

Ishi Agrawal as Pickles, a lamb

Tommy Birchall as the Winter Lamb, an outcast orphaned lamb born in winter, who is later named ‘George’ by Lily

Production

Development

Craig Mazin learned about the novel Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann when producer Lindsay Doran brought it to him in 2007, and he found himself "enchanted by how smart, moving and philosophical it was." It took Doran nearly a decade to secure the rights before Mazin wrote the first draft for the first studio it was set up with in 2016. The studio ultimately decided not to produce the film, but Courtenay Valenti was familiar with the script, and purchased the project at Amazon MGM Studios. When the project was back in active development, Kyle Balda was hired to direct the film.

Casting

In March 2024, it was revealed that Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson were cast in the lead roles. In June, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Tosin Cole, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill and Mandeep Dhillon rounded out the cast. Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, and Patrick Stewart were announced as having joined the cast in April 2025.

Filming

Principal photography took place from June to July 2024 in a number of locations across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey, most notably in Ivinghoe, at White Pond Farm and in Shepperton Studios. Visual effects for the film were completed by Framestore, and Clear Angle Studios. Christophe Beck composed the film's score. The film's closing theme is the 1988 song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, remixed by Kriz Kovacs.

Release

The Sheep Detectives had its special advanced preview screenings on May 2, 2026, and was released in the United States on May 8 by Amazon MGM Studios.

It was originally scheduled to release on February 20, 2026, under the title Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie, but was pushed to November 13, 2026 to pull in more families. In October 2025, it was reported that the film had been retitled The Sheep Detectives, and was moved to its eventual May premiere to avoid competition with the then-scheduled February 27 release of the later-delayed animated film adaptation of The Cat in the Hat.

Home media

The Sheep Detectives was released on Amazon Prime Video on June 24, 2026. FlixPatrol reported that the film climbed to No. 1 on Prime streaming worldwide. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 25, 2026.

Reception

Box office

As of 9 September 2026, The Sheep Detectives has grossed $66.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $66.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $132.9 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Sheep Detectives was released alongside Mortal Kombat II and Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), and was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,457 theaters during the Mother's Day weekend. It made $4 million on its first day, including $1.03 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $15.1 million, finishing in fourth. In its second weekend the film made $9.6 million, finishing in fifth. In its third weekend it made $9.2 million, including $12.3 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 210 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Drolly funny and sweet as a lamb, The Sheep Detectives is a delightful family entertainment that bundles disarmingly profound themes in a cozy package." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, and audiences polled by PostTrak gave it a 75% "definite recommend".

Aparita Bhandari of The Globe and Mail said the cast is "truly an enviable cast of performers, and they deliver." Harry Stainer of Empire said the film had an "abundance of pathos", which was "helped in large part by the voice cast that bring this adorable animated flock to life – especially Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Lily, Chris O'Dowd's soulful Mopple, and Bella Ramsey's high-energy, question-asking lamb." Shirley Li of The Atlantic says the sheep "outshine the human characters at every turn." Guy Lodge of the Variety said "the film delights" when "the sheep get to run the show" and Mazin's "script is shakiest when the action pivots to the village."

Jo Berry of Digital Spy said, "Hong Chau and Emma Thompson are woefully underused, and Thompson's deliciously delivered put-downs only serve to highlight the fact that the movie is only mildly amusing, rather than uproariously funny, when she isn't around." Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood wrote "the starry voice cast delivers on all fronts, especially with lines provided by Mazin's witty and wise script." Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter said Jackman "proves so charismatic that it's easy to understand why George's flock would devote themselves to finding his murderer."

Nate Adams of TheOnlyCritic felt the film "has no right to be this affecting, this thoughtful, or this complete, and I am deeply grateful that it exists." Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times called it an "enchanting film with moving messages." Alissa Wilkinson of The New York Times felt all elements of the film, "humor, mystery, goofiness and even sentimentality, all balanced beautifully". It's a movie that treats each member of its audience with respect, no matter their age." Sam Adams of Slate says "the sheep are more engrossing than the crime they're solving, because what they're really trying to understand isn't who killed George but what it means that he's dead."