The Sheep Detectives
Family FavoritePG

The Sheep Detectives

A new breed of mystery.

2026 • 109 min • Comedy · Family · Mystery

Synopsis

George Hardy is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can't possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realize they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.

Our family guide

Best from age 7
82
Movie Knight Score
1327 reviews
  • 83 Reviewers · 6 · 69%
  • 79 Audience · 1321 · 31%

When a farm mystery needs solving, a flock of sheep who secretly love detective novels step up to the challenge. They prove to be surprisingly brilliant investigators, following clues and interviewing human suspects to uncover the truth.

Violence & peril
2/10
Language
1/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking
0/10
Romance & sensuality
0/10
Scary moments
3/10

Heads up

  • A central "murder" mystery, though not explicitly violent
  • Some moments of suspense
  • Brief peril for animal characters

What it models well

  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Cleverness and problem-solving
  • Unlikely heroes
  • The power of reading

Talk about it after

  • How animals communicate without words
  • The importance of looking for clues
  • Unexpected abilities in others
  • What makes a good mystery story

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for The Sheep Detectives. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

Where to watch

Stream

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Top billed cast

Director: Kyle Balda • Crew: Craig Mazin

Trailers & clips

Lily & the Other Sheep Begin Their Muder Investigation - Clip

Police Officer Arrests Molly Gordon - Clip

Hugh Jackman Introduces His Flock - Clip

Winter Lamb Mystery Experience

Kaleb Cooper & Hugh Jackman Talk Sheep

“Winter Lamb” Official Clip

In Cinemas Now

There They Are

Reviewer notes

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

This movie was really great had some good laughs and at one part had me in tears. Well written and very well told. One part even had me in tears. Worth a watch and would be a great movie to sit down with the family for movie night !

Recommended

Fusing supposedly incompatible genres can be tricky business, a practice whose results may seem like a surefire way to an inappropriate mix. Yet, every so often, moviegoers get pleasantly surprised by such unlikely ventures, as is the case in this latest effort from director Kyle Balda, a delightfully whimsical cross between a comical murder mystery and a live action talking animal feature. Shepherd George Hardy (...

Recommended

It's weird to make a sheep movie without any sheep. While this is a murder mystery, Hugh Jackman doesn't actually do anything in this movie and is away from most of it being dead and the movie is all about the sheep and their interaction with each other and the human world. The movie is strange because it doesn't actually contain that many sheep. It's mostly just a high polygon count and fantastic voice work inst...

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

Summary: 8/10: a genuinely delightful family film that respects both the mystery genre and its audience, proving that even the most unlikely premise can work when executed with heart and craft. Based on Leonie Swann's very popular novel Three Bags Full, this is a delightfully funny take on the whole Mickey Spillane/Agatha Christie genre, reimagined with the most unlikely detectives imaginable: a flock of sheep ...

Not recommended

Shepherd dies. It’s the result of murder most foul! Unpropitiously for the manslayer there is a most important factor that they have not accounted for. Unbeknownst to the assassin, the deceased herdsman had been training a crack team of detectives. (If, at this point, you can’t tell who those detectives are from the title of the film, then perhaps murder mysteries are not for you?) What I thought: meh, it was O...

Recommended

Hugh Jackman may take top billing here, but the real plaudits have to go to some animatronic sheep and to Nicholas Braun's hapless detective "Tim". He is completely out of his depth when a body is discovered in a field. He just assumes that "George" (Jackman) has had an heart attack - but the sheep, well thanks to the observations of the hitherto shunned winter lamb, they start to put two and two together and conc...

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