Summer movie season is nearly upon us, with the first wave of anticipated releases over the next few months beginning in the month of May. Among the new releases, such as the action sequel Mortal Kombat II, is a unique type of mystery film. The Sheep Detectives, based on the novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, is set for release on Mother’s Day weekend, though the first reviews for the movie are already beginning to drop. Thankfully, it seems that the Hugh Jackman-led whodunit is filled with enough charm and intrigue to earn it an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score.
At the time of this writing, The Sheep Detectives currently has a 93% “fresh” rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. This score is based on only 15 reviews submitted so far, and will still need more reviews before it can become “certified fresh.” However, 93% is already an impressive enough score, thanks to the 15 reviews that are already available to read. Many critics praise the charm of the star-studded cast, which, aside from Jackman, includes the likes of Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, and Emma Thompson in its human cast, and impressive voice talent like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, and Brett Goldstein as voices of the sheep.
The premise of Sheep Detectives is, as the title indicates, about a flock of sheep who find their shepherd (Jackman) murdered. Given that the shepherd used to read mystery novels to them, the animals take it upon themselves to solve the mystery and see which human character was responsible. The Amazon MGM Studios production continues the company’s streak of critical success this year, as another of its productions, Project Hail Mary, received critical acclaim and continues to thrive at the box office. Hopefully, good reviews for The Sheep Detectives mean that it will find some level of success at the box office on Mother’s Day weekend.
The Sheep Detectives is being branded by critics as a mix of the Rian Johnson mystery movie Knives Out and Chris Noonan’s 1995 film Babe (co-written by Mad Max director George Miller). Kyle Balda serves as the director of the movie, and the filmmaker is best known for his work in animation, having directed films such as Despicable Me 3 and Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022.
Craig Mazin wrote the screenplay for the movie, with the project being an interesting tonal departure from his more recent body of work in television dramas. Mazin, aside from writing and creating the HBO limited series Chernobyl, is best known for adapting the video game series The Last of Us into an HBO television series, which is currently filming its third season. With a mixture of live-action, animation, and a fascinating intersection of genres, The Sheep Detectives looks to be a film that mostly works on a murder mystery level with its charming animal leads, if the Rotten Tomatoes reviews and score are anything to go by.
Release Date
May 8, 2026
Runtime
109 Minutes
Director
Kyle Balda
Writers
Craig Mazin, Leonie Swann
Producers
Eric Fellner, Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan