When thinking about good whodunits, Agatha Christie adaptations often come first to our minds; the clever puzzles, eccentric detectives, and unexpected twists make the narratives so compelling that viewers are glued to their seats. Movies like Clue, Gone Baby Gone, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, Gone Girl, and such also prove to be compelling watches. A more contemporary audience is well-versed in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out franchise, which presents a new mystery with each installment, seen through its detective Benoit Blanc’s (Daniel Craig) eyes.
This year, though, brought us a whodunit that will be remembered for its detectives rather than its mystery. Case in point is Hugh Jackman’s The Sheep Detectives, which puts forth a herd solving the case of their shepherd. We follow George Hardy (Jackman), a devoted shepherd who reads cozy murder mysteries to his flock every night. Things take a turn when George is suddenly and mysteriously found dead. While the local authorities quickly write it off as a heart attack, George’s sheep suspect foul play. Putting on their detective wool or caps, the flock then take it upon themselves to find the murderer.
Written by The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin and directed by Kyle Balda, The Sheep Detectives adapts Leonie Swann‘s 2005 international best-selling novel, Three Bags Full. The heartfelt story grips its audience as we see the overarching themes of isolation, dealing with darker realities like death and loss, love for an animal, and more. The movie garnered love all around, becoming a commercial success, earning $126 million worldwide on a $75 million budget.
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Furthermore, the feature marks the highest-rated Hugh Jackman film, with a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and a 96% score from fans. Along with Jackman, the whodunit also casts Nicholas Braun as the bumbling local cop, Molly Gordon as George’s long-lost daughter, while the voice cast includes icons like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart and more.
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
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🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
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You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
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The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
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You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
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Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
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The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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‘The Sheep Detectives’ Rise Is a Streaming Darling
But that isn’t all for the movie’s success, as it became even bigger when it hit PVOD and then streaming, dominating charts all around. Now the feature has achieved another milestone; The Sheep Detectives has spent over a month on Prime Video, as per FlixPatrol. It is currently at the 6th spot on Prime’s top 10 list, standing tall among films like Ryan Gosling’s Project Hail Mary, Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe, two Jason Statham movies, Shelter and A Working Man, and more.
Check out The Sheep Detectives on Prime Video. Stay tuned to Collider for more such updates.
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