Flock me, the sheep worked it out! Find out hoovesdunnit and much more, below (my 3.5 star review is here.)
The Will reading
In George’s Will he requests the attendance of various local people – friends and perhaps foes – to right wrongs and also bear witness to their true natures, George having watched them closely and worked out who they all really are.
Summoned to the Will reading are: Rebecca, George’s daughter; Caleb, another local shepherd; Mr Ham the butcher; Reverend Hillcoate; Police Officer Derry; Beth Pinnock, the proprietor of the pub/hotel; and,on the phone, George’s son and Rebecca’s twin – Peter Van Vuuren. Also present, and reading the Will, is George’s solicitor Lydia Harbottle.
George’s Will states that these people all embody a persona:
The fool: Officer Derry, though he does much better as the investigation wears on – with some help from the sheep of course. After being called the fool by Lydia the solicitor, he even calls himself that in frustration at how long it took him to work out the killer from the clues available.
The bad shepherd: the vicar, Rev Hillcoate. George had wanted to track down his twins, given up for adoption shortly after birth via the Church. Rev Hillcoate couldn’t actually help him or he’d have been defrocked, but told George he could help for a price. Rev Hillcoate needed funds for church repairs, and George gave a hefty sum of money.
The spring lamb and the winter lamb: The lambs are Rebecca and Peter, though on a superficial level. I think Rebecca, his daughter, is the spring lamb, who is easy to like and a good person. Crucially George has already forged a deep friendship with her by letter, presumably before he wrote his “real” Will, in which he fixes these nicknames to seven people. It’s true that at points throughout the film, most of the sheep think she is George’s killer, and a winter lamb, and she is treated as such, though they discover at the end they have let their own assumptions take them down that path.
Which means the winter lamb is Elliot the local reporter/Peter Van Vuuren, Rebecca’s twin brother (they are the same person). George was good at gauging people’s characters; with the contact he has had with his son since they discovered each other, he has probably worked out that an aggrieved Peter feels he has been wronged and discarded, and that George owes him. Elliot (Peter in disguise) is even kicked out of the Will reading by Lydia – discarded again.
(None of these quite fit though, as one of the messages of the film is not to bully and discriminate against our own equivalent “winter lambs” as they don’t deserve it; and George himself loves the actual winter lamb. But I think it’s the nearest we can get.)
A victim: No, not George, or even Rebecca when she is accused. It’s Beth Pinnock, the publican/hotelier in Denbrook, is not terribly pleasant throughout most of the story and even steals a letter written by George to a woman (actually his daughter though Beth doesn’t know that then). The letter is written on rose-scented notepaper that Beth gave him. Then at the end of the film she admits to Rebecca that she was in love with George but he always only loved Lily, Rebecca’s mother. Beth is a victim of her own unrequited love and sees herself as a victim, calling herself that to Officer Derry.
Two murderers: Ham the butcher and Caleb the shepherd. The two had teemed up to start a business selling sheep meat. George had discovered that Caleb was killing sheep on his land (George owned Caleb’s land and was leasing the meadow to him). Lily and Mopple had hidden in Caleb’s barn and discovered packaging and equipment for the venture, and a big poster of Caleb and Ham advertising Denbrook Meats.
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George reads mystery stories to his flock each evening, though he doesn’t believe they understand him.
The flock
The sheep in the flock have been accumulated from various places by George over the years. Most of them don’t understand that sheep die and believe instead that they simply become clouds when their time on Earth is over.
- Lily – the cleverest sheep, she has a special bond with George. She often works out the murderer in George’s mystery stories well before anyone else does, and is very proud of this skill. However it means her thinking about George’s murder, and how to solve it, is very rigid.
- Cloud – a diva and the fluffiest sheep in the flock.
- Sir Ritchfield – a posh and dignified older sheep.
- Ronnie and Reggie – young twin rams who love head-butting things.
- Zora – a curious lamb, always asking questions.
- Wool-eyes – his wool is always in his eyes, duh. He’s always getting stuck in things and having accidents. George has not yet fully named him hence the temporary moniker.
- Sebastian – a black, large-horned ram, rescued by George from a carnival. He often keeps to himself. He tells Lily and Mopple that at the carnival, once he was no longer sweet and pettable he was forced to fight dogs. He was also a winter lamb himself, and feels like an outsider until shortly before his death. He will often go off alone but eventually returns.
- Mopple – a patient sheep, only he knows the truth about death as when something bad happens he cannot forget at will. It is a heavy weight to bear but he also remembers all the joys.
- Three lambs (Oliver, Pickles and and Daisy) – best friends who play together. They try to befriend the winter lamb but are warned off by the other sheep.
- The winter lamb – a baby born in winter who is ostracised and bullied by the rest of the sheep, though George has a soft spot for him.
Caleb’s flock: Caleb is the shepherd in the next meadow which he rents from George. His flock are all French and join George’s flock at the end of the film when George’s daughter Rebecca buys him out.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Plot recap
George lives in a silver caravan on his sheep meadow, near the town of Denbrook. He is writing to Rebecca, his daughter, and tells her that the answer to the “riddles of the universe” and secret to happiness is sheep. He tells her the names of all his sheep. He gives her a rundown of his day finishing with reading a detective novel to his flock, who he pretends understand. He goes to bed and the sheep discuss the story amongst themselves. Lily has worked out the killer already.
The lambs try to play with the tiny winter lamb but Sir Ritchfield stops them. George explains in his letter that sheep often reject winter lambs for being different.
George heads into town one Sunday morning and enters the church mid-service, walks down the aisle, and places a large roll of fifty pound notes into the collection plate. He glowers at the vicar, states he is settling a debt, and leaves.
George finishes his letter, wishing Rebecca would come and visit.
Later Caleb visits George, who shouts at him accusing Caleb of lying, and throws him out of the caravan. The flock, hearing the shouting, decides to forget.
Beth Piddock, the hotelier in the town, gossips with the postwoman who shares news of the letter George is sending to Rebecca, written on scented paper. Beth, who only knows it is to a mystery woman, pockets it.
A young journalist turns up in the town. Elliot Matthews is a junior reporter with terrible hair, and usually works on the Obituaries Desk; but is keen to progress and visits the Denbrook Cultural Festival thinking writing about it might be a route to promotion. He is horrified when Beth shows him the festival: three tables, and a £10 admission fee.
At the meadow there is a thunderstorm, and Sir Ritchfield explains to the flock that clouds used to be sheep. Now the clouds dance, which makes thunder, kicking the rain down which makes things grow. The winter lamb is left out in the rain.
Elliot’s car breaks down while leaving the village and is towed back to town. En route he sees torchlight in the storm, coming from George’s meadow. That night a knock on the caravan door wakes George.
The murder
Next morning, Lily finds George lying on the grass, and Mopple explains to her that he is dead. She doesn’t believe him, as apart from Mopple the sheep do not know anything or anyone can die in real life. Mopple tells her only sheep become clouds, not humans. She tells the flock to forget George, but Sebastian orders them not to. They must get justice for George.
Zora thinks he has been murdered. All the humans who die in the stories George read to them were murdered, therefore it must be the only way to die.
Officer Derry turns up at the scene. Caleb claims that he found George when he turned up at the caravan with papers for George to sign. The butcher turns up to take away the sheep, but is sent on his way.
Lily wonders why George’s body didn’t have on his coat and hat on as it was a very rainy night before he came outside. She climbs up and sees two glasses on the table in the caravan.
Elliot the reporter turns up at the caravan, and wonders to Officer Derry why George went outside when he was having a heart attack; and also says he wasn’t alone. However Officer Derry doesn’t think it was murder.
Lily speaks to the flock about the crime seen and the questions it raises: George must have known the other person and could have been poisoned via his drink; there are green grass marks on his hand; and the final visitor did not alert anyone to George’s “heart attack”. She tells them they need to solve the murder. Sebastian thinks they should leave it to the humans as they are much cleverer than sheep but Lily simply ignores him and gets the rest of the sheep investigating.
Winter lamb says he saw George’s ghost get up from his body but no one believes him.
Announcing the death
The church bells ring and the sheep think that the murder will be announced to the town like in the mystery books. Some of the sheep try to go to town but Lily is terrified of crossing the first road to get there. Sebastian is mocking. Even a chicken walks past and crosses with no problem. Eventually Mopple helps her. The three make their way to the town, with Lily listing the common steps in murder mysteries en route: the killer returns to the scene, the police assume a drifter did it, someone unexpected turns up; the victim is the biggest clue. As they go through the churchyard Sebastian tries to explain God to them.
In town, Officer Derry is telling the crowd the death is not suspicious but then explains that George was poisoned with taxine, from yew berries – there are yew trees in the churchyard. Derry says it was probably a drifter.
A car pulls up depositing Lydia Harbottle – George’s solicitor – and his long-lost daughter Rebecca Hampstead. Lydia announces the Will reading will be later that day and lists who should attend. The three sheep head to the local inn where the reading is taking place, and wait in the garden.
The reading of the Will
Inside, Rebecca explains she was given up for adoption through the church. Officer Derry states she was in the country the previous night, when George was murdered. She tells Elliot she has a South African twin she has never met. Lydia kicks Elliot out of the reading as he is a journalist. Lydia phones Rebecca’s twin, Peter Van Vuuren, dialling him into the Will reading from South Africa.
It’s a new Will, with one major change compared to his previous Will. George states he has done wrong and been wronged by the attendees, labelling them a fool, a bad shepherd, a spring lamb, a winter lamb, a victim and two murderers.
The Will leaves 300 acres (the meadow leased to Caleb) to his son; the 300 acres George farmed along with the caravan, sheep, etc to his daughter Rebecca; and the rest of his estate also to Rebecca – Lydia explains that an account holds $30 million, from the sale of George’s patent for a treatment for the sheep disease Orf. The previous Will left this huge sum to an animal charity.
They are disturbed by Mopple running blind through the hotel, a green-stained blue pillowcase over his face, from the washing line outside.
Officer Derry sees Beth has one of George’s letters.
Elliot asks officer Derry to work with him on the murder. He shares that he saw a light the night before at George’s place and in return Derry tells him George died between 8 and 11pm.
Back at the farm the sheep see a torchlight. It’s Rebecca, and the winter lamb finds her. The rest of the flock see Rebecca as a winter lamb too and are convinced she is the murderer. Lily wants to get into the caravan as she thinks the last book George was reading to them might help them find the murderer; Wool-eyes finds it for her. The book is Murder at the Crossing, which Lily takes to town and leaves outside the police station for Officer Derry to find.
Lily tries to befriend Sebastian, who explains his carnival years, where he was forced into the ring to fight with dogs. George rescued him. Sebastian admits he too was a winter lamb.
The suspects
The next morning Elliot visits Officer Derry, who has been reading the novel Lily left for him, and putting it to good use. Elliot is impressed with Derry’s means / motive / opportunity chart to work our potential suspects.
Officer Derry visits Ham and suggests he may be the murderer – George was a vegetarian.
Derry Sees Beth, and asks why she had George’s letter. Beth replies that she is in fact the victim.
When he speaks to Caleb, the shepherd says George had cancelled his lease for the land and Caleb had returned to George’s caravan with a new proposal. He admits he’s the bad shepherd.
The Rev Hillcoate tells Officer Derry the Church wouldn’t tell George where his adopted children were. George asked the vicar to find out, putting a large sum of money in the collection plate. The vicar took it – the church needs expensive repairs – though would have been defrocked if the Church found out about it. He admits he took advantage of George and is the bad shepherd.
Officer Derry next questions Rebecca. She was at an airport hotel the night before. He tells he he knows she has changed her name; she used to be Chastity Crampfs and had previously associated with a criminal forger.
The winter lamb says Rebecca loves him like George did, and also smells like him. Cloud has found Rebecca’s bangle proving she had been to the farm. Cloud had seen Rebecca that night. The flock decides Rebecca is guilty and is a true winter lamb. However Sebastian does not believe Rebecca did it.
The sheep need to get a human to see the bangle and realise its significance. They tempt the policeman to the meadow by stealing his hat. He chases them to the field and finds the bangle under his hat on the grass.
Derry searches Rebecca’s room; he finds yew berries stuck in the soles of her boots and arrests her. While being interviewed by him she states she was at George’s on the night of his murder. In George’s letters he had told her he had been looking for her for twenty years. He also sent her a copy of his previous Will. The night she had been at the farm, she and George had talked about the sheep, but she had had to claim that she hadn’t been there as everything pointed to her being his killer, eg the new Will. Officer Derry locks her in the police station cell and tells her she will be charged the next day.
Lydia tells Officer Derry that George’s son is selling his sheep and land to Caleb. She then admits she was wrong to call Derry a fool.
She and Mopple visit Caleb’s meadow. it is dark and misty, and they hear bells clanking. Caleb’s sheep all have bells and speak French. One tells them to run and they seek refuge in Caleb’s barn, however it is full of packaging and posters for Denbrook Meats. Caleb’s two Alsatians appear and chase Lily and Mopple. Lily falls but before the dogs can attack her, Sebastian appears and fights off the dogs, saving Lily. He is badly injured by the dogs and as he is dying explains to Lily that he came back as they are his flock. He sees George as he dies. Lily realises that sheep don’t become clouds and do actually die.
Lily and Mopple run off to warn the flock. Lily explains that Sebastian is dead and sheep do not just become clouds. Lily warns the rest of the flock that Caleb is turning sheep into meat, but the others choose to forget.
Mopple tells Lily he remembers all the deaths and the bad things, but also all the good things. He tells her if she forgets they will all die at Caleb’s hands. Mopple tells her it is memories that keep our loved ones alive. Lily is so upset she starts the forgetting process, but George’s ghost appears and reminds her that though she is the smartest sheep it is Mopple who is the wisest of the flock. He tells her to find out who killed him, so Rebecca can save the flock. Lily remembers the most important clue is the victim and George raises his hands: one blue from the Orf treatment, and one green. She works out in her head who really did it.
The most important clue is the victim
Lily tells Mopple Rebecca didn’t commit the murder. She wants to do something but won’t fit – the winter lamb offers instead. Winter lamb trots into paint cans and Lily takes him to the police station. He gets in via a high window and trots around bleating, while Rebecca watches him, bemused, from her barred cell. He leaves with Lily. Walking home, the winter lamb shares with Lily what George said to him the day before he died: that a winter lamb is the best lamb.
Next morning, Ronnie and Reggie know they’ve forgotten about something they shouldn’t have.
Rebecca explains to Officer Derry how the lamb got in and what it did – there are blue and yellow paint lines, and mixed green paint, linking on the floor, and photos of Rebecca and of George.
Lily, Mopple and winter lamb are in town. They watch as Rebecca is about to be taken away in a police car. Officer Derry wavers over signing the handover form but then signs. Then he looks at the sheep, and at the green paint on his hands from the trail the winter lamb left in the police station. He realises who actually murdered George. He stops the other police taking Rebecca away and announces that not only did she not murder George but that he knows who the murderer really is.
The denouement
Officer Derry addresses the crowd. Rebecca had been the obvious suspect. Peter, her twin brother, had an alibi – he was still in South Africa; though George must have sent a copy of his old Will to Peter too. Peter wanted the £30 million. He knew if the Will left the money to him, it would look like he had something to do with George’s murder. But if Rebecca is found guilty of murder the money would go to her next of kin: Peter. He forged the new Will with Rebecca inheriting £30 million, and planted the it in the caravan.
Office Derry says that Peter has been hiding in plain sight. Peter Van Vuuren became… Elliot Mathews, the reporter.
Winter lamb, watching, says “George’s ghost”, realising it was Peter Van Vuuren, getting up from the ground after attacking George, that he had seen.
Officer Derry explains that Elliot used the Deerbrook cultural festival and the article he claimed to be writing as cover to be in the town. He then left, deliberately damaged his car, and returned. The light he saw from the tow truck would have been Rebecca’s torch. Later that night he visited George, poisoning George’s drink and planting the new forged Will. However George is strong and after falling gets up and fights Elliott outside before succumbing to the poison and dying.
Continuing the case against Peter, Officer Derry explains that at the Will reading Elliot/Peter knew Lydia would make a journalist leave. He simple joined the reading by phone as Peter Van Vuuren from another room in the hotel.
He put the yew berries in Rebecca’s room.
The clue left behind was George’s hands. One was blue from the Orf medicine, and the other green – which was not grass stains. Officer Derry acknowledges the sheep detectives as he continues: the blue pillowcase with the green stain, hanging on the washing line for the hotel. Elliot has been dyeing his hair yellow as a disguise. He stayed at the hotel and his cheap yellow hair dye mixed with the blue of the cloth. Likewise in the rain on the night George died, the blue of the Orf medicine mixed with yellow dye on Elliot’s head and dyed George’s hand green, as he and Elliot fought.
Officer Derry takes a hair from Elliot’s jacket, as DNA evidence that he is George’s son.
Elliot runs to his car to escape, but Ronnie and Reggie have turned up and finally get to do what they love most in the world – they headbutt the car and even break the windscreen. The police take Elliot away as he shouts that the money should have been his.
Officer Derry frees Rebecca from her handcuffs and apologises. She picks up winter lamb and cuddles him. Derry asks hopefully if she will stay but she is undecided. The winter lamb sadly watches Lily, Mopple, Reggie and Ronnie leave to go back to their meadow, leaving him bhind.
Rebecca checks out of the hotel and Beth gives her her stay for free. She apologises to Rebecca and hands over the letter from George that she stole. She tells Rebecca she gave George the rose-scented paper, She was in love with him and they tried to make it work, but he only ever loved Rebecca’s mother. Beth then tells Rebecca her mother’s name was Lily.
Caleb, and Ham the butcher, approach Rebecca wanting to buy the land and sheep from Rebecca. She calls them two murderers, as they have been killing sheep on George’s land (the land George rented to Caleb). She asks if they even know the sheep’s names, and tells them she is changing her surname to Hardy, which was George’s surname.
The flock praise Lily for solving the crime, though she admits she wasn’t so clever.
Rebecca arrives with Caleb’s flock of French sheep that she has bought, and they all start to get to know each other. She reads them Hardy’s Guide to Raising Sheep.
Lily gets up and goes looking for the winter lamb, who is on the rocky outcrop where Sebastian, another winter lamb, used to go to, to be alone. Lily names the winter lamb George. They go back to the reading together. Sir Ritchfield lets him go past to play with the other lambs, and George then snuggles down with Lily. Lily sees a dark cloud in the shape of Sebastian in the sky.
End credits
There is a very brief end credits scene (sound only) where Cloud the sheep says “I still think it’s the maid”, that having been her suggestion for George’s murderer all through the investigation, despite there being no maid in their case.