The Wolfpack

Crystal Moselle's poignant documentary about children isolated from the outside world proves, once again, that fact can be stranger than fiction. Five years ago, aspiring filmmaker Moselle spotted the six Angulo brothers—then ages 11 to 18—in New York's East Village. Befriending the boys over the next few months, she discovered their bizarre secret: most of their time was spent indoors, confined by their fearful father Oscar in a four-bedroom, 16th-floor apartment in a Lower East Side public housing project. As Oscar explains: “I didn't want them to have the social pressure and be contaminated by drugs or religion or philosophy—but to learn who they are.” Home-schooled by their mother, Susanne, the boys lived vicariously through a collection of 5,000 movies. “If I didn't have movies, life would be pretty boring,” one says. His brother adds, “It makes me feel like I'm living, sort of, because it's kind of magical.” In the late 1980s, the Angulos met on the trail to Machu Picchu, married and moved to West Virginia, California, and eventually New York City. The Angulos, who gave their sons Sanskrit names—Bhagavan, Govinda, Narayana, Mukunda, Krsna, and Jagadisa—are Hare Krishna followers. In 2010, adventurous 15-year-old Mukunda escaped, wearing a homemade Halloween-inspired Michael Myers mask. Thinking he was deranged, the police took him to Bellevue Hospital. Child welfare advocates deemed confinement to be “a bizarre parenting choice,” but the children were obviously healthy and educated. During filming, they would all become more self-aware, and learn how to interact with others. A bizarre, thought-provoking film, this is recommended. (S. Granger)