Growing up as a millennial kid, Babe was one of my favorite films. It was whimsical, charming, with great characters - hilarious and heartbreaking all wrapped up in one. So it’s no surprise that these grown up children are causing a social media ripple about this film. One of the most endearing films to hit cinemas this year, The Sheep Detectives is the warm, cuddly, comforting film that we all need right now. 

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The Sheep Detectives, based on Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, is a comedy-mystery where a flock of intelligent, talking sheep investigates the murder of their beloved Irish shepherd, George Hardy (Hugh Jackman). Using knowledge from mystery novels George read to them, the sheep assist an incompetent local officer, Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), to find the killer.

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The Sheep Detectives is somewhat a little difficult to place. It’s a wonderful blend between murder mystery and a family friendly Saturday feature of yesteryear in the best possible sense. When I first saw the trailer I wondered if they would be able to balance those two seemingly competing elements. 

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Well they do it beautifully, capturing some of the best live action family movies thematically as they have both the adorable animals doing cute and cuddly things while not shying away from the harsh realities of life. This is done in an age appropriate way but doesn’t take children’s intelligence for granted. 

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While animals in real life family films used to be real animals, here they are of the CGI variety which is seamless. This move to computer generated animals allows them to be more expressive, which adds to the heart and humor of the film.

One of the most endearing films to hit cinemas this year, The Sheep Detectives is the warm, cuddly, comforting film that we all need right now.

★★★★