Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Tosin Cole, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, Mandeep Dhillon, Brett Goldstein, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Rhys Darby 
Where to watch: In theatres
To watch or not to watch: A whodunnit where sheep figure out whodunnit!? Yea! Absolutely! Don’t expect a Pixar level substance though

In a small village of Denbrook, England, there lives a shepherd named George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) in a trailer on the meadow with his flock of sheep, without much human contact. He treats his sheep like human, identifies their personalities and reads murder mystery books in the evening. It is then revealed that the sheep can talk like humans, have human emotions and characteristics – they would discuss the solution to the murders amongst them, and one sheep in particular, Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) would always figure out the killer. Then one morning, George is found dead outside his trailer from a heart failure. The sheep being well versed in murder mysteries, are able to correctly deduce that it’s a murder, which had escaped the town police Tim (Nicholas Braun), that is until an out-of-station reporter Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine) pushes the police to investigate. It turns out that there are multiple suspects – George didn’t compromise on his values, so he had made enemies of his neighbour shepherd Caleb (Tosin Cole) and town’s butcher Ham (Conleth Hill), the twins he had given up for adoption through the church right after their birth (and the death of his wife) because he was young and poor. It turns out his daughter Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon) was in town and had met George the night of his death, lied about her identity, lied about her alibi, and overall was the best suspect. But through the sheep’s investigation into the incident and their intervention, the real killer is revealed to the police and is captured. The End.

This movie achieves something which has proven to be difficult – it is entertaining and easy to understand for the kids, and engaging for the adults. It deals with complex emotions of loss, acceptance of people with differences, understanding of circumstances and values (maybe it is complex only for adults – young people might not find it difficult to accept). It is entertaining to see sheep crossing a road for the first time, going into town, leveraging their strengths and coming together as a group to arrive at the truth of their beloved shepherd. The visual effects are also top-class – the sheep look so life-like! and it has its moments of wit too! Then add to that the perfectly acted cameo by the brilliant, the divine, the magnificent Emma Thompson!
The issue with the movie is that it has twice as many characters as any other whodunnit – the townsfolk and the sheep. It becomes tough to keep track in the beginning and there are just too many backstories, which is fair to the characters, but the movie might have been better with a slightly more simplistic approach. And the ending! We need to rewind and go back to the era of no over-emotional drama towards the end, especially here. There is a murder to solve after all!

After a very long time, we have received a movie which will stand the test of time and will age gracefully. It has its heart in the right place and is not afraid to show it to the world. And after the disastrous adaptations of A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, The Thursday Murder Club and the absurd take on Poirot by Branagh, The Sheep Detectives is a shot of hope. It has its flaws, is on the nose at times and of course, the aforementioned ending. All these things do take away from the storytelling, but do not ruin it for the viewer. And it has the potential to become a favourite family movie for the weekends and holidays. Watch it on a Sunday afternoon with kids around you, and you will enjoy it. Promise!