I had never taken my kids to the movie theater before. Like many conservative Christian parents, I am wary of Hollywood’s harmful messages in children’s entertainment. But when I saw the trailer for The Sheep Detectives, it looked like something I could enjoy watching with my kids. So I took my five oldest children, ages 4 to 12, to a matinee on my day off, and I’m glad I did. Sharing a couple of large boxes of popcorn, they giggled and whispered during the movie and had a great time.
Without spoiling anything, the movie is about a shepherd who loves his sheep. He doesn’t butcher them but instead only raises them for wool, feeds them, gives them medicine, calls them all by name, and reads them murder mysteries at bedtime. As the movie trailer shows, this good shepherd, played by Hugh Jackman, is murdered, and the sheep take it upon themselves to solve the crime.
