Sheepdog Movie Review: Overstuffed PTSD Drama

Sheepdog attempts to portray PTSD through the lens of a relationship drama, but the screenplay fails to deliver the required level of emotion.

On paper, this should be an intense drama, featuring a cast of actors who have done great work in the past. But on the screen, all of the writing falls flat, and the emotion that the characters attempt to deliver fails to pack the punch needed for a drama of this magnitude.

Calvin Cole (Steven Grayhm, of White Chicks) is a war veteran suffering from PTSD and addiction. Divorced from his wife, Alice (Lilli Cooper, of Hazbin Hotel), and reeling from a past incident that left his youngest daughter dead, Calvin drunkenly assaults a stranger and is ordered by the court to attend mandatory rehab. During his therapy, his former Marine father-in-law, Whitney (Vondie Curtis-Hall, of Blue Bayou), returns home after thirty years in jail, and the two of them strike up a friendship as they support each other through their problems. Calvin and his therapist, Elecia (Virginia Madsen, of Candyman), fight through his rejection of treatment and work on his decades of trauma.

Sheepdog feels like a film you might have seen many times before if you are aware of Matt Damon or Casey Affleck’s careers. Never mind that Grayhm bears such a striking resemblance to Damon that he even wrote in the script that someone calls him ‘Target-brand Matt Damon’; Sheepdog takes so many elements from Good Will Hunting (troubled past, rejection and subsequent acceptance of therapy, Massachusetts location) and Manchester by the Sea (guilt over child’s death that lead to divorce, suicide threats, unsociable lead character), that the film feels like an amalgamation of the two of those films with the PTSD veteran angle thrown in there. Therefore, the script is underwhelming because it is trying to emulate two of the most emotional scripts out there, but Grayhm lacks the screenwriting capabilities to achieve those heights.  

The film feels far too overstuffed when it would have been better suited to staying as streamlined as possible, either to Calvin’s road to recovery with the therapist or to Whitney’s homecoming after thirty years, with his veteran benefits denied and a daughter who won’t see him. Grayhm makes sure to write a flashy, emotional scene for each of the four main characters in this story, but the emotions don’t feel justified, and the subpar writing forces the actors to give hammy performances. It’s a shame, because Curtis-Hall and Madsen have given brilliant supporting turns in the past, and they’re both long overdue for some meaty roles, but Sheepdog fails to give them that.

The movie is shot very well; cinematographer Evans Brown captures this cold Massachusetts town with care, and his use of depth of field and muted colours creates a film that looks a lot more expensive than its budget should normally allow. Unfortunately, the score is not on the same level, as it only accentuates the underwhelming emotional scenes.

Sheepdog shows glimpses of promising direction and competent acting performances, but lacks the strong screenplay to take the film to the lofty heights it is aiming for. The veteran PTSD narrative is an oversaturated market in cinema history, so the narrative has to be much more interesting to stand out through the crowd.

Sheepdog will be released in US theaters on January 16, 2026.