Linda Holmes

So good to see you both.

The Sheep Detectives begins with Hugh Jackman as George, a shepherd who lives a mostly solitary life when it comes to humans, but who loves his flock of sheep so much that he reads to them at night.

Specifically, he reads them mysteries.

The sheep have internalized the rules and the rhythms of the whodunit.

So when George himself is the victim of a murder, the sheep join together to get justice for him, just like he taught them.

The sheep, who are animated by a visual effects team, get their voices from an impressive voice cast, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patrick Stewart, Chris O'Dowd, Bryan Cranston, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, and Regina Hall.

In town, the human suspects and other observers are played by an equally loaded group, among them Molly Gordon, Hong Chao, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, and Emma Thompson.

It's both a pretty traditional whodunit, complete with clues and twists and a final reveal, and a story about these sheep learning how to go forward in the world without the person who took care of them and loved them.

And it's pretty darn good.

It's based on a book by Leonie Swan.

It's an Amazon original film, so we should note Amazon supports NPR and pays to distribute some of our content.

The Sheep Detectives is in theaters now.

Waylon, I'm going to start with you.

Did you like The Sheep Detectives?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bob, how about you?

Do you like those sheep detectives?

Yeah.

You know, when I first heard the description of this movie, I kind of thought, is this a real movie?

Are they saying that the sheep are solving the crime?