The Wolfpack
The Wolfpack profiles six homeschooled brothers who’ve lived their entire lives as shut-ins in a Manhattan housing project, a DVD collection their only connection to the outside world beyond occasional supervised local trips maybe once a year. Raised in social isolation by a hippie mother and alcoholic, controlling father, the Angulo brothers, who remake their favourite movies for fun, prove interesting subjects and not all that different from many geeky teenagers, extraordinary living circumstances notwithstanding.
One wishes, however, that debut documentarian Crystal Moselle made any attempts towards exploring this scenario beyond the boys’ affability. Larger socio-economic concerns and, particularly, real questions of abuse are skirted over or seemingly unasked, especially baffling given that the father doesn’t object to appearing on camera. Having been invited into this family’s private space over several years, Moselle, based on the shapeless final cut being released, seems to have been as evasive as some of the boys she filmed. The subject matter means The Wolfpack is inherently compelling for a while, but as a documentary it’s an increasingly frustrating shambles. [Josh Slater-Williams]