The Sheep Detectives: This charming movie has a deeper theological and moral lesson that the whole family can enjoy.

Last month, The Sheep Detectives was released in theaters, and the premise for the movie makes for a typical, fun animal children’s movie. 

The movie is about a shepherd, George (played by Hugh Jackman), who reads murder mystery novels to his sheep every night. Unknowingly, his sheep actually understand everything he reads and even take guesses to solve the fictional mystery. The main conflict of the movie comes when the sheep find that George has been murdered. Inspired by their knowledge from the bedtime stories, George’s sheep take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of his murder.

The Sheep Detectives | Official Trailer

At first glance, the movie sounds corny and like a typical kids’ movie about talking animals. Yet, the movie proves to be quite the opposite. The film deals with topics of death and grief with a very Catholic-friendly mentality, creating a lasting impact on the viewer.

*Spoilers Ahead*

Since the movie falls under the category of murder mystery, the film does address death as an important part of the plot. Death, however, is neither glorified nor glossed over, but portrayed as something that occurs naturally and must be accepted.

The movie shows how suffering is a part of life

An important element of the plot is that the sheep can choose to forget moments in their lives that make them sad or upset. The entire flock can choose what they forget and move on with their lives as if it never happened, except for one sheep, Mopple. He is the only one who cannot forget and retains all the memories of the hard things the flock has encountered, but is asked not to remind them.

Before the death of their shepherd, the flock didn’t have any memory of the death. In fact, the sheep had the firm belief that they did not die, but rather that they became clouds when the time came.

Later in the film, Lily (the main character) and Mopple witness the death of their friend Sebastian, who saved them from violent dogs, after they discover that the neighboring shepherd is planning to buy them and butcher them.

Lily is mortified and tries to lead the flock far away to prevent them all from being sold and slaughtered. The flock is hesitant and shocked when they discover that Sebastian has died. They all deny that death occurs and hold on to the belief that they turn into clouds. They all ignore Lily’s worries and choose to forget the death of Sebastian and the danger of being sold.

Defeated, Lily asks Mopple how he deals with remembering the hard moments of life. He replies that it’s the memory of those hard moments that makes the good moments stand out more. It’s the memories of those who passed that make their life worth something.

In the same way, Catholics look at suffering not as something to be avoided at all costs, but as something that brought about our salvation. It is in suffering that Christ paid for our sins on the cross. 

No one is immune to suffering, but it is in dealing with it and offering it up to God that we can find our holiness and find greater meaning in our lives through it.

Additionally, in a world that would rather not think of death and make it seem that we live forever, Catholics pose a stark difference with the “memento mori” mentality. We know that we will die and that there is immortal life after death, which is why we Catholics choose to keep the commandments and not just live according to our own whims.

The movie sheds a light on grief that’s easy to understand

Apart from its message on suffering, I think that the most compelling message of the movie is that grief is normal.

When the flock first discovers that George is dead, their knee-jerk reaction is to want to forget him. But Sebastian stops them all from doing that, saying that forgetting George would be to forget the love, kindness, and care that he gave to each of them. He argued that it would be a great act of disservice to George, who was their shepherd, and that it was their responsibility to remember him and learn to deal with the grief.

This part of the movie was deep with meaning, because grief, like suffering, is not something to be avoided, but something to be navigated.

It is through grief that we remember those who loved us. It is in grief that we honor the people who came before us, and we give thanks for the way they touched our lives.

Just like Sebastian says in the movie, we do have a responsibility to remember our deceased loved ones and to pray for them. That’s why the Church celebrates the feast of All Souls Day (November 2), because it recognizes that grief is normal and necessary.

The movie explains God and the Eucharist accurately

A surprising yet brief detail of the movie comes in a small scene where the main sheep characters pass through the church in the movie.

The scene takes place when Lily and Mopple, who had never been into town, go looking for clues among the people the shepherd knew, while Sebastian, who consistently wanders from the flock, is giving them a tour of the town. 

When they pass the church, he points it out to the other two sheep, who ask what a church is, Sebastian tells them that’s where God lives.

When they ask him who God is, he replies that God is both a shepherd and a lamb, who is also a piece of bread that people eat on Sunday…and is invisible.

After this, the sheep continue their tour, confused by what their friend just said.

When I first saw this scene, I was surprised by the simple and concise explanation of who God is. What caught me most off-guard was the fact that it was actually accurate.

Christ is indeed a shepherd, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

Christ is also a lamb, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

Finally, the bread that Catholics eat on Sunday is truly Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity! “This is my body given for you.” (Luke 22:19)

Finishing thoughts

I personally believe the film was very charming and that it was the type of film that can help parents explain to children how to deal with loss and why we experience suffering.

It’s refreshing to see newer movies that portray Christian messages with a good plot!

Hopefully, this is a reflection of the cultural tide turning back towards the true, good, and beautiful!