Nicholas Braun, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O’Dowd and Molly Gordon bring a surprising amount of heart to The Sheep Detectives, the new mystery from Amazon MGM Studios and Emmy-winning writer Craig Mazin.
Written by Mazin (Chernobyl, The Last of Us) and directed by Kyle Balda (Minions, Despicable Me 3), the film opens with a mystery in the English countryside after a shepherd named George (Hugh Jackman) is found dead on his farm.
From there, the story follows the flock he leaves behind. Lily, voiced by Louis-Dreyfus, Mopple, voiced by O’Dowd, and the rest of the sheep set out to figure out what happened to the man who used to read them detective novels every night. Along the way, they encounter a well-meaning but out-of-his-depth local cop played by Braun, an ambitious young reporter played by Nicholas Galitzine, and George’s estranged daughter Rebecca, played by Gordon, whose return to the farm adds another layer to the mystery.
While the premise sounds playful, the film carries more feeling than expected. Set in Oxfordshire, The Sheep Detectives blends humor with grief, memory and the disorientation that follows a major loss. That balance gives the story a warmth that keeps it grounded, even as it leans into its stranger and more whimsical ideas.
During the film’s New York press day at The Warren Street Hotel, The Knockturnal’s Jai Singh Nanda sat down with Braun, Louis-Dreyfus, O’Dowd and Gordon to talk about the emotional undercurrent in Mazin’s script, the fun of playing characters with nerves and vulnerability, and what drew them to a mystery told from such an unexpected angle.