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

I had never heard of this movie before but saw it was available on a flight back home so I thought it was worth a shot based off of the description. Having watched it, it definitely has a lot of awkward and difficult to watch moments in terms of what poor children were put through. The psychologist in me found it a fascinating study of how far some parents will subject their children to very harmful effects based on their own insecurities. I was surprised with how candid the family was about their pay experiences and the emotional scars that still persist. An interesting documentary that takes got behind closed doors of a truly unique family

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 WOLFPACK (2015) ***1/2 Absorbing and at times frustrating documentary about the Angulo brothers, six Native American siblings, who were more or less imprisoned in their NYC Lower East Side apartment by their loving yet domineering father, whose only escape was through their love of movies (their father provided dozens of videos for their family entertainment) and using their creativity recreating the films entirely by homemade methods and ingenuity. While filmmaker Crystal Moselle allows her subjects to get in touch with themselves as they realize they can actually break free of their fortress of solitude it remains also with many unanswered (or worse yet unspoken) questions (um, just HOW did she manage to convince the family to allow her to film them warts and all?) While you root for the family to break away from strangleholds of odd love by the paterfamilias (including their somewhat argumentably abused mother as well) you also admire their spirits unbroken particularly the eldest son who clearly has an eye to be on his own …as a filmmaker.