By Jeanni Ritchie
I love Mystery Movies!
There’s something exciting about sitting in a darkened theater, popcorn in hand, and having no idea what you are about to see.
It’s like the mystery grab bags from our youth, their giant pink and blue question marks screaming your name from school fairs and store counters. Bracelets, press-on butterfly tattoos, card games… the anticipation built until you pulled open the flap and peered inside.
Or maybe it’s more like “Blind Date with a Book” where you only know the genre and a 6-word plot before arriving home and opening your new purchase for a night of reading.
With Mystery Movies, you know the MPAA rating—and also that it’s a soon-to-be-released film. With a little research you can make an educated guess, but you don’t know what it truly is until the previews end and a cast member or director appears on the screen to announce the—SURPRISE!—movie you’re about to watch.
On select Mondays, Santikos Entertainment locations—including the Grand Theater in Alexandria—have an evening mystery movie. These are usually rated R—and sometimes horror films—which is not my cup of tea.
So imagine my delight when I saw that they were premiering a Sunday afternoon family-friendly mystery movie. I recruited my mom to join me, and we headed to the Grand. I was secretly hoping to see The Sheep Detectives. Even if it was something else, the sheer excitement of not knowing was like seeing what Santa brought on Christmas morning. I was thrilled.
When the announcement came on that we were there for The Sheep Detectives, I started clapping and cheering! (I’m not sure if I was more excited about the movie or being right. I do like being right!)
The movie was great. I’d seen the trailer and knew my mom would enjoy it—we share the same sense of humor and love of mysteries!
The comedy-mystery follows a flock of sheep who turn detective after their beloved shepherd, George (Hugh Jackman), is murdered. Having listened to him read murder mysteries for years, the sheep—led by pragmatic ewe Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and loner Sebastian (voiced by Bryan Cranston)—set out to solve the crime themselves.
I laughed. I cried. And somehow, I didn’t figure out whodunnit before the reveal. I always figure it out in books—but throw in some CGI sheep and I was stumped!
But I did figure out what the mystery movie was before the reveal.
If this was a test run for Santikos, I hope we passed. I can’t wait to see more family-friendly mystery movies at the Grand!
