I honestly cannot believe I’m typing this, but is THE SHEEP DETECTIVES the best movie of the year? Or at least tied with PROJECT HAIL MARY? That sounds like a bit, but it is not. This movie was fantastic. It has absolutely no business being as poignant, funny, moving, and beautifully made as it is, and yet here we are. Craig Mazin, of THE LAST OF US and CHERNOBYL, apparently has a soft side. Literally soft. Like wool. And thank heavens for it.

The premise is already halfway to absurd brilliance: a shepherd named George reads detective novels aloud to his sheep every night, never imagining they understand a word. Then George dies, and his flock decides to solve the mystery themselves. What follows is part murder mystery, part family film, part meditation on death, memory, and grief. Based on Leonie Swann’s novel THREE BAGS FULL, the movie understands that the real question is not just who killed George, but what it means for the sheep to live in a world where he is suddenly gone. That grief thread hit home for me again in a big way.

The cast is loaded. Hugh Jackman plays George, while the sheep and surrounding humans are brought to life by a stacked ensemble that includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, and Hong Chau. And the crazy thing is, the movie actually earns that cast. Nobody feels wasted. Nobody feels like stunt casting. It all works.

What knocked me over is how complete the whole thing feels. The adapted screenplay is terrific. The visual effects are seamless in the exact way they need to be, making the sheep expressive without turning them into nightmare fuel. Christophe Beck’s score does a ton of emotional heavy lifting too, adding warmth, mystery, and ache in all the right places. I know it is early, but this absolutely deserves to be in the conversation for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Score.

Bottom line: I loved every minute of THE SHEEP DETECTIVES and would see it again in a heartbeat. I do not know yet if it makes my final Best Picture list, but it is going to be awfully close. What I do know is this: one of the year’s best movies is a sheep detective movie about grief, and somehow that makes perfect sense.

Listen live to my review today on the KVNU For the People Movie Show, and while you’re here check out the trailer for THE SHEEP DETECTIVES below.