Imagine growing up in a housing-project apartment in Lower East Side New York, with six siblings, confined to the apartment, living under the rules of a father who believes you’ll become ‘corrupted’ if you venture into the outside world: a father who believes that those who have a job are all slaves of the state, robots of the world. This is the story of Oscar Angulo’s family – or ‘tribe’ – of seven children, each given ancient Sanskrit names and whose existence is inspired by the Hindu deity, Krishna, who had ten children. But Oscar’s cult-like beliefs fall short, as his hopes to raise a family in Northern Europe are never realised (most probably for monetary reasons, as Oscar refuses to work). The nine of them become trapped in their father’s no-man’s-land of fear, rather than actively living his utopian ideologies. First-time director Crystal Moselle allows the boys to speak freely and honestly about their childhood. Rather than casting the family under the lens of judgement, Moselle focuses her attention on the brothers’ strength of character, their humour, and their thoughtfulness, despite the alienating, harsh circumstances.

Oscar’s wife Susanne met her husband, a follower of Hare Krishna, on the trail to Machu Picchu and was taken back by Oscar’s unconventional outlook on life. She recalls how Oscar was uninterested in a consumer society, and how that set their conversations apart from the usual topics of materialistic couples: what restaurant they’re going to eat at, what new coat they want to buy. It’s easy to imagine how he captivated Susanne’s mind with his alternative way of thinking. Who hasn’t romanticised over the prospect of living away from society, in an idyllic setting, ‘off the fatta the lan’? Yet after having seven children: six boys (who are the focus of the documentary) and one girl, they never make it to their land of dreams. In a touching scene, Susanne emotionally recalls how all she wanted for her children was for them to have space to run around, a wood to build a tree house in, to have freedom in nature. Tears fall down her cheeks as she sits in her box-like apartment, surrounded by crime, drugs and violence outside her window. She too has become physically and mentally trapped, unable to give her sons and daughter the life she always wanted for them. She even loses contact with her own side of the family until Moselle beautifully captures on film the moment Susanne calls her mother after fifty years.

It is Oscar who guards the key to the apartment and, perhaps more importantly, who holds a powerful mental grip over his family’s mind.

It is Oscar who guards the key to the apartment and, perhaps more importantly, who holds a powerful mental grip over his family’s mind. The boys describe growing up in the apartment as like being in a ‘cell’: they were only allowed out for appointments, were home schooled by their mother, and had no real contact with the outside world for the first fifteen years of their life. But even from this extreme situation, something positive arises. Thanks to their father’s vast movie collection, the children become passionate about film and direct all their love and enthusiasm towards it. Far from what you might expect from this documentary, the footage depicts a group of children finding happiness amongst themselves, acting out scenes from their favourite films, making costumes out of yoga mats and cereal boxes, typing up whole script. Not only do films inspire them to be creative, but it is also their sole way into the outside world. It is their psychological freedom that keeps them sane. No doubt it inspires one of the Angulo brothers, Mukunda, to finally break free and walk out of the apartment, at the age of fifteen. Disguised in a mask in case his father recognises him, he walks the streets of New York, but is quickly picked up by the police for his bank-robber style appearance. The brothers then start to go out regularly together, experiencing real life for the first time. Morelle films them splashing in the sea on Coney Island with the sun on their pale skin, their long black hair swishing around, their first time in a cinema and the simple pleasure of picking apples in an orchard.

The Angulo brothers no longer speak to their father; they have cut their hair, changed their names, moved out of the apartment and are finding careers in film and other creative sectors where they are destined to shine. The Wolfpack depicts the harsh realities of a megalomaniac father, whose fear of the world has prevented his family from being a part of it. Now, finally, they can be truly free and start to build a life for themselves.

Olivia Neilson

Image: Magnolia Pictures/Allstar