The Wolfpack

Name: The Wolfpack
Genre: Biography, Drama, Family, Documentary
Released: June 12, 2015
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 75

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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The Wolfpack

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: June 12, 2015 | Not Rated

Summary: Locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Angulo brothers learn about the outside world through the films that they watch. Nicknamed the Wolfpack, the brothers spend their childhood re-enacting their favorite films using elaborate homemade props and costumes. With no friends and living on welfare,Locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Angulo brothers learn about the outside world through the films that they watch. Nicknamed the Wolfpack, the brothers spend their childhood re-enacting their favorite films using elaborate homemade props and costumes. With no friends and living on welfare, they feed their curiosity, creativity, and imagination with film, which allows them to escape from their feelings of isolation and loneliness. Everything changes when one of the brothers escapes, and the power dynamics in the house are transformed. The Wolfpack must learn how to integrate into society without disbanding the brotherhood. [Magnolia Pictures]… Expand

Director: Crystal Moselle

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Family, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Michael O'Sullivan

Jun 18, 2015

More than a testament to the power of cinematic storytelling as food for the human spirit, The Wolfpack also is a portrait of a family that has had to rely on each other to survive. Read full review

Chris Nashawaty

Jun 14, 2015

As the film goes on, their rebellious thirst for freedom and independence slowly builds to a physical and psychological emancipation that Moselle never quite follows through on. Still, she’s discovered a stunning, stranger-than-fiction story and tells it with sensitivity, intimacy, and compassion. Read full review

Amy Nicholson

Jun 9, 2015

The Wolfpack is more like a diorama of the Angulos' unusual childhood than an explanatory documentary. Read full review

Marc Savlov

Jun 17, 2015

By the time this harmless but possibly harmed pack of pups is seen approaching the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island for the very first time – “Look at that, there’s people all over the beach,” one brother nervously mutters – it’s clear that there are second acts, and more, in American lives, even ones so borderline freakish as the ones presented here. Read full review

Peter Travers

Jun 10, 2015

The Wolfpack is frustrating in how much it doesn't tell us about the Angulos and the legal tangle that comes with their release. But once you've met these kids, you won't forget them — or the film that puts a hypnotic and haunting spin on movie love. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Jun 19, 2015

The most perplexing thing about this portrait is that, against all odds, the kids mostly seem outlandishly resilient and good-natured. I say “seem” because, again, I don’t entirely trust this portrait. Too much of what Moselle shows us looks tenderized. Read full review

Clayton Dillard

Jun 7, 2015

Crystal Moselle aims her cinematic arrow at the hearts of the same choir that Andrew Jarecki's stunted aesthetics preach to. Read full review

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User Reviews

MasterRiley

Dec 20, 2016

As someone in film school that has a passion for movies I found this documentary very inspiring. The Wolfpack tells a depressing true story about a group of brothers that were kept indoors throughout their entire childhood, never being able to attend a public school or experience the realAs someone in film school that has a passion for movies I found this documentary very inspiring. The Wolfpack tells a depressing true story about a group of brothers that were kept indoors throughout their entire childhood, never being able to attend a public school or experience the real world around them. Thats when they fell in love with movies as it gave them a glimpse to outside life and allowed them to have experiences unlike anything they had ever seen. I recommend this film especially to people who have a passion for film, it truly is an amazing watch.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

foxgrove

Aug 24, 2015

A sobering documentary about a family of seven children (6 boys and 1 girl) who are for the most part confined to their New York apartment by their father in order to protect them from the social horrors of the outside world. The film concentrates almost entirely on the six boys who spend aA sobering documentary about a family of seven children (6 boys and 1 girl) who are for the most part confined to their New York apartment by their father in order to protect them from the social horrors of the outside world. The film concentrates almost entirely on the six boys who spend a lot of their time watching movies and then enacting them. Educated at home by their mother, who is also their rock and to whom each bears a great love, they are surprisingly well dressed, articulate and speak intelligently of their years of confinement. As the story unfolds their dislike of their father, and the regime that he has inflicted upon them, becomes apparent. Each boy, although obviously internally damaged, demonstrates an optimistic attitude and promise for the future. Their mother’s heart- breaking recollection of dreams never realised due to lack of funds, contributes to a very sad, but definitely not depressing tale. The father’s reason for his actions can be viewed as a paradox. There is much truth in the fact that the outside world is a scary and dangerous place. However, the damage inflicted on the children as a result of their alternate sheltered and confined existence leaves its own scars. Ultimately, despite the uncertainties evident in life, one has to be given the chance and freedom to find one’s own way. The film leaves you feeling optimistic that the boys’, against all the odds, will do just that.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

StevieGJD

Jul 11, 2015

This is a very interesting movie. But it is very disturbing too. That these kids are raised in this environment is at the same time tragic and fascinating. That they have found a way to express themselves in film is quite inspiring. The access the film maker gets into their world is amazing.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

hanneguacamole

Jul 11, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Angulos live a life much different than my own – than what the majority of people live. And that's what makes The Wolfpack as interesting as it is. I was amazed and enthralled by their story, but less so by the film itself. As my mother so eloquently said, "I want to see them on a talk show." We wanted to hear what they really had to say, not what they wanted to say. It felt like the surface of this incredibly moving story was told, and there was much more that we couldn't see.

Both of the Angulo childrens' parents seemed to have somewhat normal childhoods, so there had to have been a driving force or event that led to this, and I left the theater not fully knowing what that was. A disdain for the government, perhaps? Yet many people feel that same emotion and don't have seven children with long hair that stay in their apartment all the time. This story is unique and the yarn hasn't been unraveled all the way.

My mother also said that at least some of these kids would be famous someday. I can only hope that they're able to lead (relatively) normal lives in their future, and hopefully fulfill their aspirations. I think the fact that Moselle found this family and made a documentary of them is in its own way inspiring, and will most certainly change their lives. In the end, we knew who the Angulos were. Good questions were asked and good footage was taken. I was just left disappointed that it wasn't great, because this story is.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilmPhonic

Aug 21, 2015

Documentary recounting the remarkable story of the Angulo brothers, a large group of teenage siblings who use their obsession with movies to connect to the outside world after being confined to a small New York apartment for their entire childhood by a bizarre isolationist father.

In herDocumentary recounting the remarkable story of the Angulo brothers, a large group of teenage siblings who use their obsession with movies to connect to the outside world after being confined to a small New York apartment for their entire childhood by a bizarre isolationist father.

In her directorial debut, jack of many cinematic trades Crystal Moselle manages to capture a unique microcosm of modern day New York which manages to work as bizarre coming of age story and ode to the redemptive power of film, wrapped in a true story of fear of the modern world which results in an oppressive family unit, part isolationist cult and part hippie commune thanks to the oddball family patriarch.

‘The Wolpack’ begins with the Angulos as teenagers having already begun to rebel against their imprisonment along with their mother by tentatively venturing into the streets of New York, accompanied by director Moselle they experience things we might take for granted like going to the beach for the first time or seeing their first film in a cinema, Moselle spent years interviewing the family and combines all this footage with home video shot by the Angulos, including remarkably faithful recreations of the many thousands of films they have grown up with.

The result is a bizarrely captivating story that provokes thought and raises questions about the father and the oppressive family dynamic, we’ve all heard of isolationist American cults, but how could something like this happen smack in the middle of one of the most overpopulated cities in the world?

‘The Wolpack’ is certainly not without its faults, perhaps expectedly for a debut film, it’s very rough around the edges and the theme starts to wear thin as the novelty wears off, there is no real arc for the characters as they’ve already achieved emancipation and Moselle only really delves skin-deep into the emotional turmoil within the family.

Perhaps the most off-putting element is the feeling that not all is what it seems, maybe it’s just us but we get the sense that dramatic “liberties” may have been taken with the story and something just doesn’t seem right, nevertheless if you take what you see at face value and despite its limitations, ‘The Wolpack’ is strange enough to hold your attention throughout.

The Bottom Line…
Despite its faults ‘The Wolpack’ is a uniquely captivating little debut documentary, thanks largely to the extraordinary true story of isolation, fear, oppression, emancipation and redemption, on a journey fuelled by the liberating power of cinema.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Sep 7, 2017

The Wolfpack is a documentary about a strange family, with its own forms of education and upbringing, totally respectable.
The most important point is perhaps the management of the family about their cinematographic influence, perhaps the most important element, after all this is cinema andThe Wolfpack is a documentary about a strange family, with its own forms of education and upbringing, totally respectable.
The most important point is perhaps the management of the family about their cinematographic influence, perhaps the most important element, after all this is cinema and they talk about cinema.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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