Hugh Jackman‘s upcoming murder-mystery movie The Sheep Detectives has garnered stellar reviews ahead of its release, leading to a strong score on the review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes. The film is an adaptation of Leonie Swann’s 2025 novel Three Bags Full, the first entry in The Sheep Detective book series. Kyle Balda (Minions: The Rise of Gru) directed the feature from a script by Craig Mazin (The Last of Us). The plot revolves around a flock of sheep trying to solve a mysterious murder. Jackman portrays George Hardy in the movie.
What critics are saying about The Sheep Detectives in reviews
The Sheep Detectives has gotten mostly positive reviews. Chris Tilly of Dexerto wrote, “As well as being a satisfying whodunnit, The Sheep Detectives has much on its mind concerning life, death, grief, and trauma, resulting in a movie with a surprising amount of depth, and one that will doubtless trigger some tears between the many laughs.”
The A.V. Club‘s Tim Grierson notes that The Sheep Detectives “evokes the sunny spirit of classics like Babe while teaching important lessons about death and community.”
Meanwhile, Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent (UK) labeled the movie “a bit much,” before adding, “The all-hands-aboard desire to take so absurd a premise and insist it be about something offers its Midsomer Murders-lite world a sense of weight and substance. The melodrama helps land the comedy.”
Elsewhere, Variety‘s Guy Lodge also praised the movie. “There’s wisdom amid the silliness, as the story gently makes a case for the necessity of grief, mindfulness, and mortal awareness… That’s more than you might expect from a film called The Sheep Detectives,” Lodge shared.
The Sheep Detectives gets a strong score on Rotten Tomatoes
Currently, The Sheep Detectives has a 96% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes after 26 reviews. The movie premieres in US theaters on May 8, 2026. Its cast includes Jackman as George Hardy, Nicholas Braun as Tim Derry, Nicholas Galitzine as Elliot Matthews, and Emma Thompson as Lydia Harbottle. Additionally, its voice cast includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Lily, Bryan Cranston as Sebastian, and Regina Hall as Cloud.
