I heard that The Sheep Detectives may seem like a silly movie, but it has a lot of heart. Therefore, I couldn’t wait to watch it once it became available on streaming services. The film is one of the movies that makes the Prime Video subscription a must for movie fans. It’s a nice blend of comedy, drama, and a very intriguing mystery. The mystery elements are really what made The Sheep Detectives endearing. It feels like a classic mystery film, just with sheep trying to solve the murder. Come for the sheep, stay for the movie’s love of mystery novels.Warning: The Sheep Detectives spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution. (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)The Sheep Detectives Follows Many Standard Mystery Novels, But in A Children's Book WayThe Sheep Detectives feels like what happens when a children’s book and a mystery novel marry. It has elements and qualities of both. The abundance of animals gives it the same whimsy and imagination that you would see in a beloved children’s book or fairytale.The animals also have some innocence that only comes from fictional animals. However, despite the animals’ playfulness, The Sheep Detectives mimics mostly aspects and elements of mystery novels. The animals make the adventure and story cute, but it’s a dark concept with murder, betrayal, and the sad toll and burden of death and grief.The Sheep Detectives is based on the German book, Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann. I am not sure if the original novel has the same children’s book mixed with mystery novel quality, but it novel origins automatically give it more of a fable quality.(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)It Highlights The Power Of Reading, Especially FictionGeorge (Hugh Jackman) reading to his animals helps them develop a bond with him. Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) develops a love for mysteries, which makes her such a good detective. The movie implies that reading can become an educational tool that makes people more intelligent, but also better at their jobs.Tim (Nicholas Braun) is treated like an idiot, but he eventually starts to become good at his job of police work because of Lily and company’s influence, but also from developing a love of reading mystery novels. Novels are treated as a major resource in helping make these characters more competent. Books are powerful, and I feel like The Sheep Detectives is an ode to how reading can transform people, animals, and things. Sheep cannot solve mysteries without books.(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)If You Read Enough Mystery Novels, You Can Predict Elements Of The Sheep Detectives, And That's Not A Bad ThingHugh Jackman has died a lot in movies, but his death in The Sheep Detectives was one of the most emotional. This made us highly invested in solving this crime. The film follows the pattern of other mystery stories, so it is easier to predict who killed George. The Sheep Detectives may have made some major changes from the book version, but this version of the story gave us plenty of hints to figure out the ending. I think there is comfort in being able to see where a story is likely heading, or trying to predict how everything ends. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy mystery novels so much.I want to join the investigation and try to solve it along with the characters. I also want to see these characters again in more movies.