Friends: These ovine sleuths solve a murder mystery and echo timeless truth in a movie for the whole flock. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #1026

July 14, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

The Sheep Detectives

By Bob Walters

‘Behold, the lamb of God!” – John the Baptist, John 1:29

“Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus, Mark 14, Luke 22, 1 Corinthians 11

“... And a friend should never be forgotten.” – Mopple, in The Sheep Detectives

Pam’s daughter’s three kids (second grade boy/girl twins, fourth grade boy) were here for a grandkids sleepover last Sunday and Nana’s evening entertainment was watching this summer’s movie, The Sheep Detectives, on Prime.

Released in May, it is a secular movie loaded with Christian symbolism and surprisingly well-informed and non-hostile to several basics of Christian doctrine. I was working in my office publishing last week’s column, and from the living room I heard laughter, Pam talking to the kids while she paused the movie, and was unaware of the soft tears that welled up occasionally.

I was intrigued enough that I convinced Pam to watch it again the next evening with me.  I laughed, got teary eyed, was intrigued by the premise, and seriously curious about “whodunit.” We paused several times to discuss Christian metaphors and marvel at how a secular, Hollywood movie not the least bit promoted as Christian fare got this much right. One review came close: it is “entertainment for the whole flock.”

It’s playful, with same director as the Minions movies. It is thoughtful, written by the guy who wrote Chernobyl.

Briefly, a shepherd (Hugh Jackman) reads mystery books to his sheep. The shepherd – with no idea the sheep understand him – winds up dead, and the sheep solve the mystery. Emma Thompson plays an engaging character, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus voices Lily the sleuthing ewe and Chris O’Dowd voices Mopple, the wise old ram who, intriguingly, is the only sheep with complete memory. The other sheep protect themselves by forgetting bad things, and believe that when they die, they become clouds.

Again, it is obvious that the producers and most reviewers – I’m guessing on purpose or possibly out of politically correct feigned ignorance – whistle past the Christian themes. But they are definitely there: poignant, funny, and true.

Justice, for example, is described by Mopple this way: “It means the good should not be harmed by the bad. The weak should not be harmed by the strong. And a friend should never be forgotten.” It is not far-fetched to find our remembrance of Jesus, and then put it together with the sheep’s defense mechanism of forgetting.  When we forget, we lose our purpose; and our faith is what we remember. Something to think about.

There is a runt “winter sheep” shunned by the flock, and the fourth-grade grandson said: “Nana, they’re not showing justice to that little winter lamb.” Kids learn quickly.

I’m reminded how Jesus was shunned by the Pharisees … and so many others.

My out-loud cackle was when the sheep walked by a church and Mopple explained: “That’s where God lives.” “Who’s God?” a sheep asks. Mopple: “He’s a shepherd, but he’s also a lamb, and he’s also invisible, and he’s made of bread, and he damns things …”  The other sheep: “Like a beaver (dams)?” Mopple: “Yes. And they eat him on Sundays.” The other sheep: “Poor God.” A great transubstantiation joke.

Without giving away too much, Sebastian is another older, wiser ram who lives apart from the flock. But when trouble arises (think Jesus coming for our salvation), Sebastian returns, in danger, and explains, “You are my flock.” Pair that with John 15:13-15, as Jesus leads the Disciples through Jerusalem toward Gethsemane, and says, “I called you friends.” Justice is remembering our friends, and joy is knowing Jesus remembers us.

What a friend we have in Jesus, and what a thoughtful movie this is to behold.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) omitted some names to protect the innocent.