This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"The Wolfpack"

HHH

U.S. Documentary

A verite look at an insular family tasting freedom for the first time, "The Wolfpack" is a story so weird it has to be a documentary. In a housing development on New York's Lower East Side, the Angulo family — parents Oscar and Susanne, six sons and a daughter (the same configuration as the Weasleys in "Harry Potter" — live a singular life. Oscar, who claims to adhere to the tenets of Hare Krishna, doesn't let the kids leave the apartment. They are homeschooled, and get most of their cues from the stacks of DVDs in the home. They even re-enact their own versions of those movies, complete with elaborate homemade props and costumes. Director Crystal Moselle insinuates herself into the Angulo home, capturing small moments and big ones — the biggest being when one of the boys decides he wants to escape and experience the outside world. Moselle's approach is almost anthropological, revealing a unique tribe as it first encounters civilization.

- Sean P. Means

"The Wolfpack" is screening in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. No more festival screenings are scheduled.