I went into The Sheep Detectives not sure what I was going to experience. It seemed like a kids’ movie but with … murder? Being a fan of mysteries set in the English countryside, I figured it was worth checking out.
Juliet Vedral
What I found, besides an enjoyable and charming moviegoing experience, was a delightful film full of unexpected Christian imagery. And also, a murder mystery for all ages — well, maybe just ages eight and above.
The film is set in a small, fictional English town called Denbrook. George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is a kind — dare I say even “good” — shepherd who “calls all his sheep by name.” Among others, there’s Lily (the smart one), Sebastian (the black sheep), Mopple (the patient sheep who never forgets), Sir Richfield (the dignified one), and Cloud (the pretty one). There is also an unnamed “winter lamb,” the outcast of the group because he was born at an unusual time. At the end of each day, George reads murder mysteries to his flock, and Lily is typically the one who solves them in the end.
The sheep believe that when one of them dies, they become a cloud. When they experience loss or discomfort, they all will themselves to forget, though Mopple is the only sheep who remembers everything.
One day, George is mysteriously found dead, and the flock is indeed “sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Distressed, they try to make themselves forget, but Sebastian and Mopple convince them not to. Lily then leads the charge to solve George’s murder. Whodunnit? You’ll have to see for yourselves. The rest of this piece is about the holy mysteries revealed in the film.
The sheep know George well. They know his voice, but they are also so close to him that they know his scent. They trust George, and he loves his sheep in turn, caring for each one in the way that it needs. He even invented a medication to keep them from getting Orf (contagious ecthyma), a disease that could keep the sheep from being able to eat.
The winter lamb is both a Christ-figure (rejected by his flock for coming in an unexpected way) and a lost sheep, who the shepherd pursues and cares for. In the end, he is accepted and given a new name by Lily and the rest of the flock.
Sebastian is a loner sheep who leaves but always comes back. He was a winter lamb and had been abused all his life until George rescued him. In a stunning scene, we see George carrying Sebastian the way Jesus is often depicted carrying a sheep on his shoulders. Sebastian gives his life for Lily and Mopple, not only evoking the martyr Saint Sebastian, but of course, both the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
Julia-Louis Dreyfus as the voice of Lily and Hugh Jackman as George Hardy in “The Sheep Detectives.” (Amazon MGM Studios)
Lily, in some ways, is like a Peter-figure and also “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” She loves George and is unfailingly loyal to him, but she also can’t help but try to deny she knows him when faced with the enormity of his death. With George gone, Lily becomes the leader of the flock.
There are also some bad shepherds, both literally and figuratively. George raises his sheep for their wool, not their meat. But Caleb, a neighboring shepherd who leases a meadow from George, raises his lambs for slaughter. George’s flock senses that Caleb is not a good shepherd, and they are wary of him. I’ll let viewers figure out who the figurative bad shepherd is and why.
I brought two of my sons to see the film with me. My eight-year-old was able to pick up on some of the spiritual themes, enough that we could have a conversation about Jesus’s death and resurrection. However, though both of my sons are unfortunately acquainted with grief because of my father’s passing, my five-year-old became very upset about George’s murder. I would make sure an adult is present to answer any questions and provide comfort for younger viewers.
Ultimately, I came away enchanted by the story and edified by the underlying Christian narrative. I left thinking about my own Good Shepherd, how he knows me by name, and how I want to live like him before I also turn into a cloud (just kidding).
The Sheep Detectives is screening in theaters around the country.
