User reviews

Greetings again from the darkness - from the Dallas International Film Festival. In what is one of the oddest real life stories I have ever seen, director Crystal Moselle takes her camera inside the Lower East Side apartment of the Angulo family – 6 brothers, one sister, and their parents. In their spare time, the kids re-enact movies within the apartment using elaborate costumes, sets and props. And no, that's not the odd part.

Despite being mostly teenagers, these siblings have only left their apartment a few times in their life – a very few times … maybe once or twice a year, and not at all one year. They have been home schooled by their mother and are quite charming and articulate, despite the quasi-prison environment. The kids are not abused in the physical sense, but an argument can be made that mental anguish is in play here.

Their movie scenes are fun to watch, especially given their Tarantino leanings with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Ms. Moselle manages to capture a significant amount within the confines of the apartment. Her interviews with the boys are enlightening, but it's the mother that provides the most context. Her regrets and dashed dreams for her kids cause her much pain, and it's quite clear that the dad has some type of psychological vice grip on the family. The dad raises some eyebrows when he states "My power is influencing people". As viewers, we don't see this, but there is physical proof to his claim.

With no shortage of powerful moments, there are still two that jump off the screen. The first occurs as the boys head out on their own to watch their first movie in a real theatre, and then have such a fan boy moment after watching The Fighter. The second involves the mom having a conversation with her mother after not speaking for more than two decades. It's an emotional moment.

We can't help but like the boys and pull for them to find some normalcy outside the walls of the apartment. Their final film project needs no additional commentary as the lead character watches various emotions travel past his window … fitting since a NYC apartment window provided this family its only glances at the real world for so many years.

The six Angulo boys, their sister and their mother live in a low-income New York City apartment with their father, Oscar Angulo, who won't let them go outside. Well, some years they get to leave their apartment and some years they don't. They are home schooled, which in the case of these kids, means watching movies all day, transcribing the scripts and then filming their own versions. These feral, Peruvian John Travolta looking teenagers have probably seen Pulp Fiction fifty times, though they most certainly prefer Reservoir Dogs. Normality, to them, is film. The world they find in film is inspiring, and, coupled with the natural tendency of the captured to escape, they break out, running down the streets of Manhattan, only to be chased down by budding documentary filmmaker, Crystal Moselle. The film begins there. Although the documentary disregards some major questions around the reasons for entrapment and isolation, the boys are fascinating and their impact is lasting. This film inspires the big dreamers; those who are looking to break their shackles.

I thought this documentary was a mess. Sketches of information were given to us and left up to the viewer to fill in the blanks. First and foremost, what is going on with the parents? We know that the father is abusive toward the mother and has kept her virtually locked away from her family and society. Okay, we get that. But then it shows a scene of her out jogging. Hello! Would you care to elaborate on why this woman who has been abused for 20 years is out exercising? Why did she decide to call her mother after all these years? If she is going outdoors now, too then does she plan on leaving him? Does she realize how sick her husband is? Well, we don't know what she thinks because it appears the film maker never asked her.

The father, who is the central character here, is shown as a lazy drunk who either is paranoid or uses his distrust of society as a reason to sit at home all day and drink. Why doesn't the filmmaker get him to talk so we can figure out if he's a leach or mentally ill? Does he abuse his kids, too? If he kept his kids inside all those years, he doesn't seem too upset that they're going out. And wait.....is that him and his wife walking hand and hand through a park together? If you find the 20/20 story somewhere then I recommend watching that instead of this. You'll come away with twice the understanding in half the time.

The Angulos are an unusual family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The mother had met the Peruvian father while visiting. He fears dark government conspiracies and locked his family inside their apartment. They rarely go out and didn't go outside during one year. There are six boys and one girl who has mental difficulties. Their mother homeschooled the kids. The boys are movie fans and start recreating the films in their apartment.

Every family is unusual in their own way. Some families are unusual in every way. The cinematic hook for these boys is obviously their film reenactments. Their effort is pretty good considering the conditions. The movie does skim over some aspects which is not necessarily the filmmaker's fault. The father is probably the most fascinating character but he gets only a few scenes. Those scenes are very compelling but I want more. The filmmakers need to follow the guy. They need to find out what he does outside of the family. What does the family do for money? There's a blonde girl who suddenly shows up at the end. Who is she? There are a few questions that need better answers. The most compelling scene happens off screen. It's the first walk that the oldest boy takes outside without permission. He recounts the walk but it's not the same. It's a fascinating family but the movie leaves a few things unanswered.

The subjects of the new documentary "The Wolfpack" have to be some of the most odd people I've seen put to film all year. The individuals I'm talking about are a group of brothers who, throughout their childhood, were shut off from society and forced to stay in their New York City apartment. Being home-schooled and in a unique state of seclusion - in which they only got outside nine or ten times a year - they formed a religious love of movies. Without internet and with plenty of time on their hands, they compiled homemade scripts of their most treasured films (which range from "The Dark Knight" to "Gone With the Wind"). This, of course, all for the purpose of remaking them to their own delight. Cinema helps them pass the time and gain access to a bit of the world that they can't actually see themselves.

The opening sequence is most telling, in which they lovingly act out their favorite moments from Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". It's at once extremely funny, with their cardboard guns and baggy suits, yet haunting in the same sense. It's the definition of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, in which we're not really sure how the filmmakers found these kids, much less were allowed into their lives. The fact that some of this footage even exists is a testament to the superb direction by Crystal Moselle.

I found it captivating from beginning to end. The mystery of why these boys have been treated this way is handled excellently. Nothing is revealed too quickly, partly because the answers aren't all that simple. It's definitely a slow-build, but completely absorbing. You won't be able to take your eyes off this family. The story of their lives is incredibly gripping, and absolutely worthy of this skillfully-made film.

Ok, first of all this was a decent documentary although I did get awfully tired watching these teenage boys acting out scripts of movies. But these young men had some resilience in spite of their isolation from the world and a father who kept them locked in a tenement , a NYC lower east side apartment . They certainly did have a bond for each other, but I had trouble telling them apart so their personalities kind of became one- maybe that was intentional. And we really learn little about the father who was the isolation instigator other than he was a Hare Krishna of sorts and drank too much And the mother who seemed kind was an odd bird. Was she victimized by the husband or complicit in his actions.

It was good to see them begin to free themselves and wander outside. Other than isolation,we are not privy to information about physical or sexual abuse; although one son speaks generally about some things one could not forgive. I wanted to know more about the father who spoke in platitudes and offered no real insight.

The documentary that leaves you with many different feelings. The failure of the father with the outside world, the psychological problems, the desperation of his mother, the silence of his mother maybe the cowardly, the communication of the boys with the father was given in a beautiful flow. More lively documentary with video recordings used in the past. Throughout the film you are watching with a lot of questions and emptiness. There is a lot of information, especially about his brothers, but his sister's world is not mentioned. 84 minutes is less, you think "but then" when the movie is over

'THE WOLFPACK': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Critically acclaimed documentary flick; about seven siblings, six brothers and a sister, that were locked away for fourteen years, by their father, in an apartment in the Lower East side of New York City. Everything they knew, about the world, was learned by watching movies. The film was directed by first-time feature filmmaker Crystal Moselle; who discovered the Angulo brothers, walking down First Avenue (in Manhattan), re-enacting their favorite films. I really enjoyed the movie, and think it's one of the best documentaries in years!

The film tells the story of six brothers (Mukunda, Narayana, Govinda, Bhagavan, Krisna and Jagadesh), and their sister (Visnu), who were locked up in an apartment, in New York City, for 14 years. Their mother homeschooled them, and their father (who had the only key to the place) forbid them from leaving. One day the eldest (Mukunda) escaped; and then courageously explored the city, for the first time, in a Michael Myers mask. He was soon arrested, and sent to a mental hospital; the Angulo siblings' world changed forever, after that day.

The film is beautifully shot, and scored; and it always seems a bit haunting (and disturbing), but ultimately inspiring. I could really relate to the six boys; having grown-up obsessed with movies, and overprotected by my mother. I was also really shy, and socially naive (and still am today); but I also really relate to their relentless passion for film. The scenes of the brothers reenacting all of their favorite movies, are priceless. There's some moral question, of whether the filmmakers exploited these children (in order to tell a great story); and I'm not sure what I think about that. It's still a great movie though!

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I enjoyed this.

I thought the nature of the family and the back story made the audience easily interested.the cuts to video footage of cinema footage and the boys leaving the apartment was an absolute winner.

While we don't get a full back story on the dad and his impact its impact is evident through the boys interaction with him. His dis like of or non acceptance is pretty evident by the way he acts when the boys finally go on a road trip. I liked it, great footage, easy to like the rogue characters and enough left unexplained to make it a good film overall

The Angulo family live in an apartment in New York's Lower East Side. Including the mother and father, there are nine of them. The boys spend considerable time re-enacting the contents of their favourite movies using home-made props and make-up. They are obsessed with movies in actual fact. But this can possibly be explained on account of the fact that these boys have more or less remained indoors their whole lives. Their domineering father being the primary reason this decision has been enforced, although the mother seems quite happy with the idea also. The boys seem okay with this situation, which from the outside seems incredibly unnatural and absurd. The boys existence makes me think of the life of a house cat; a type of feline that has been brought up and conditioned to stay indoors, such that it knows no different way of living, despite the fact that such an existence goes completely against the natural way of this type of animal. When its human beings submitting to this sort of thing though, it starts to seem more than a little bit strange.

The Wolfpack certainly has an unusual story to tell. For this reason I was somewhat disappointed with the film. While there is considerable interview material, for some reason there isn't all that much insight and I came away still being none the wiser about how this situation arose and was maintained for so many years. It's about people cut off from society through choice, yet you have to wonder how the social services could have allowed it. Children will go along with things because they know no different, unaware of what damage may be being done. I can't help think that these boys have been deprived of a considerable amount that they may come to fully realise in later life and their mother and father consequently seem unfit parents. The father in particular did not come out of this very well, his position was he was protesting against the system by choosing to not work and instead laze around at home drinking alcohol and watching TV. I wasn't very convinced by this stance. The boys seem surprisingly balanced considering their restrictive upbringing but I never even got a sense of what they felt when they finally emerged outside. So while the source material here is certainly of some interest, I can't say I thought too much of the execution and I left somewhat underwhelmed.

In Wolfpack, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Award (2015), the Angulo family is indeed alone and secluded from its environment. Secluded in their Lower Eastside of Manhattan apartment, the 6 children have rarely gone outside because father deems New York too dangerous. That's not the exceptional part of this odd-ball documentary.

The WOW factor is that the kids have grown up relatively unscathed by their isolation. Their saving grace has been their movie addiction, wherein they re-enact scenes from famous films such as Reservoir Dogs and The Dark Knight. Although we don't actually see them filming, we do watch them create ingenious costumes and devise tableaux to emphasize the drama, albeit fictional, found outside their cramped world. As in the recent Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, young people are turning to movies for their societal awareness and outlet for their creative impulses. It could be much worse.

That's all there is, Folks. First-time helmer Crystal Moselle doesn't allow much more depth, for instance on what makes their strong but not particularly articulate father, who gave his children Sanskrit names, do the things he does like imprisoning his kids to avoid their ruin from the streets of New York. Or why mom has been mostly withdrawn yet loving. However as in Grey Gardens, we are privileged observers without restraint, a virtue in documentary film making.

It's just that beyond the cardboard box Batman costumes and impressive toy guns, not much else happens. Perhaps it's the Seinfeld "about nothing" motif but only without Jerry's wit.

While the film around it feels a little to haphazard to truly fly and certain situations are not fully explained, the story at the heart of Crystal Moselle's fascinating documentary is one that is utterly unique and a sometimes scary, sometimes insightful examination on the way in which films play an important part in the lives of the everyday people who here in the Wolfpack happen to be the anything but run of the mill Angulo family.

Virtually locked away inside their cramped New York City apartment by their strange and possible quite sinister father, the Angulo family which consists of one solitary sister and a haggle of movie loving boys find solace, entertainment and also in many ways a reason to live in their large collection of movies that they have found joys in recreating and living in through their bizarre early years.

Meeting the family at a time where they've become more progressive and less inclined to heed to their fathers strange wishes, Moselle found the family at an ideal time where they were willing to both speak about and showcase their unique set of circumstances and while this is intriguing, Wolfpack truly shines in its presentation of the Angulo's when their movie making mojo is in full swing through an abundance of footage the family shot of their endeavours.

Whether it's faithful re-enactments of Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino seems to be a favourite of the clan), scarily good Dark Knight recreations or even original films they've written and developed, it's unlikely that viewers would've seen anything quite like what's shown in Moselle's film and its fascinating to witness the growth in these children as they slowly discover the difference between life in the movies and life as we know it, not to mention the divide between watching the world pass by through a window and walking through it.

It's frustrating that the Wolfpack is not a more proficient production but despite its amateurish nature and lack of hard investigation it's still a memorizing watch thanks to its stranger than fiction story and the Wolfpack will provide a buzz to any budding film aficionados as to what can be achieved through effort and a love for the medium.

3 Coney Island beach outings out of 5

After watching Wolfpack I was left with so many questions. I like movies that make me think and this one fits the bill.

Did isolation really hurt the boys? They seemed to turn out pretty good even though the parents reminded me of burnt out hippies that maybe took too big of a dose of some far out hallucinogen.

Will the brothers be able to reach their God given potential after living their young lives in a confined environment? They seem to be doing pretty good in the last part of the film.

Did anyone else notice the father going off on his own while the mother went to see what the boys were doing? For some crazy reason, I like him better than her -- and I call myself a feminist! I sure hope someone follows up on this story ten years from now and answers my questions.

The Wolfpack is a very interesting documentary that introduces the lives of some eccentric characters in New York City. We wouldn't have the chance to see these brothers and their life of movie obsession if it was not for this movie and the seemingly chance encounter of the filmmaker with these brothers, it reminds me of documentary classics like Grey Gardens where we see the mother and daughter, the good and the bad, nothing is sugar coated. The Wolfpack makes excellent use of stock footage as the brothers shot many videos of themselves growing up and their movie obsessions, recreating scenes and entire scripts of their favorite movies. It feels at times as though the filmmakers are taking advantage of these brothers and their situation, exploiting them for their own personal gain, but maybe that is always the case, and maybe the brothers even as sheltered as they are, are taking advantage of the situation too. That is another interesting aspect of the story, how people take advantage of each other, and the relationship with the father how it is strained at times and very flawed but you can still tell there is love there even if you don't always know why he made the decisions that he did. He feels some regret you can tell and I'm sure he would have done some things differently if he could go back and do it all over again.

As "The Wolfpack" (2015 reelase; 90 min.) opens, we are in the "Lower East Side, NYC" and we get to know the Angulo siblings, 6 brothers and 1 sister. Apparently they are homeschooled and only rarely ("some years just once or twice") are allowed to leave the apartment by their father. The kids watch tons of movies, and then re-enact some of them (like "Reservoir Dogs"). The mom is also there. She doesn't look very happy... At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the feature length debut from Chrystal Moselle. She lets us catch a glimpse of a very dysfunctional family living in a low-income housing project. Why did the mom and dad decide to do this? And how much longer can they keep this going on? This documentary is quite dark in tone and undertone. I couldn't help but wonder on what money the family survives (as the dad refused to work for reasons I won't spoil--just watch!). On top of that I also wondered about the mental health of the entire family, but mostly the siblings, as what we are seeing cannot be good. Does this amount to emotional abuse?

This documentary made quite the splash when it first came out in 2015. I remember reading a review of it, and thinking to myself "I really need to see this" but for whatever reason I never got the chance to see it (I guess it didn't make it to my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati), and eventually forgot all about it. That is, until the other night when I was browsing the documentaries section on Amazon Prime, and there it was! I knew right away I needed to watch it. Better late than never. IF you are in the mood for a documentary about a dysfunctional family. I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

A happenstance & peculiar doc that in the beginning I thought was a crudely made & self-made storytelling film by mid/high school brothers with a poor budget and low tech gear. But as it unfolds I begin to wonder if what they are saying and what I'm seeing is a not-too-common reality. I have had experiences with home schooled as well as religiously isolated families within isolated communities and soon recognized similar behaviors occurring within this family. Their unusual adaptation as their personalities develop from film & TV as their main sources of exposure. Special feature interviews should be watched.

7 kids, one apartment, a lot of time on their hands, no experience with the outside world, all the movies they can watch. What you have is one peculiar documentary about perhaps the most interesting family I've ever seen in film. The film doesn't always give them the kind of star treatment they need, but director Crystal Moselle was just out of film school at the time, so let's not forget to grade this on a curve. Actually, the fact that she made this straight out of film school is a magnificent feat. The Wolfpack is fascinating, haunting, and hopeful. I felt for these 7 kids. I liked them, a lot. They are so sweet, and curious about the world, and they articulate it through the movies. You know, I relate to that so much. I for one, have lived through the movies as well, perhaps not as thoroughly as these guys, but when you have social anxiety as a child you tend to gravitate towards the make-believe. I loved these kids, I hated their father (even though he seemed to redeem himself at the end), and I wish them all the best of luck going forward. This documentary is GOOD.

'The Wolfpack' doesn't come together

'The Wolfpack' is a film like no other. Sometimes that works well as it did in 'Inception', 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'Blue Velvet.' At other times, it fails horribly, like it did in one of David Lynch's latest films (I stopped keeping up after a couple terrible films), 'Inland Empire.' 'The Wolfpack' is not completely terrible. It is interesting and takes on a unique subject. However, the film lacks focus and doesn't address the issues it highlights in any concrete manner.

I have the sense the director, Crystal Moselle, just ran into the family somewhere and decided to film them on a lark. Then after a couple of years, she decided to make a movie of it because graduation time in film school required her to present a film and the footage of nine people holed up in a Lower East Side tenement apartment was the only material she had available. Point is, there was no forethought in what the director/creator was doing, and it shows in the film.

Don't get me wrong. The film is interesting, and it's completely pointless. It's not quite surreal enough to stand on its own; it's far too repetitive for that. A dramatic moment in the film is when five of the brothers finally step out of the apartment together and see a film in a theater. That's it. While it might be dramatic for the brothers, the film doesn't convey that. The brothers also wonder aimlessly around Coney Island, and yes, the whole family takes an outing to a farm.

As a teacher I once had was fond of asking when I presented a paper, "So what?" So what indeed. With a subject this compelling, it's a shame there was only documentation of random repetitiveness. That isn't enough.

Rating: Rent it. It's been a long time since I intensely desired that a film end. It wasn't because I was uncomfortable with the subject, it was the feeling that I was ultimately just watching paint dry that made me want to leave. It's hard to believe that the film is only 80 minutes long.

Although the feelings of claustrophobia in the film's apartment work well on a large screen, there is not enough in the film to make it worth seeing in the theater. However, it wouldn't be a bad rental or better yet, a good sociological treatise. A cursory view of articles about the film tell us far more about the family than the film does, and that's a shame.

Peace, Tex Shelters

I've always loved documentaries...and this reminded me why.

The Wolfpack is beautifully made, everything a documentary should be and more. Hidden away in bustling Manhattan live the Angulo family. Comprised of 6 quirky and highly imaginative brothers, who despite having extremely limited access to the outside world, and created their own. Constantly playing characters and portraying scenes from their favorite films. Both disturbing and charming, getting a glimpse into their incredible isolated existence was inspirational.

Filmmaker Crystal Moselle showed us all the sides to the Angulo families life, the loneliness and social confusion, the innocence and naivity, the fun and outrageous shenanigans, and the painful backstory. Like any good documentary it left you wanting more. amazing

Just watched one of this year's most talked about documentary films and that was "The Wolfpack" and it was interesting and took a neat look at how people live. Proving that life is so different for many. Based on a true story the film is actually made from footage of six Angulo brothers and it shows how each spent much of their life locked away and sheltered from society all while living in an apartment on the lower east side of New York City. All they have ever known of life and take from the world is what they seen thru movies and TV. And they have watched with a fine tooth comb knowing line by line and even acting out scenes and dressing up like many of their favorite characters from the movies they watch! Plus neat and nice was seeing in the footage the costumes and props that each brother would make homemade to try and copy the actual stuff from their favorite films! They said this was to fight off being alone and this was the craving for their dreams maybe so as I grew up with movies since a kid and I still dream big with them. It's been a family tradition as my aunts got me into watching a lot of movies, still I knew real life and would journey out. Much like the one brother in this picture once he escapes the apartment everything changes for everyone as a journey and discovery of going out sheds new light as "The Wolfpack" can say that leaving the apartment can act as a new dream they can live out just like the dreams and hopes that the movies gave them all!