The World is Brighter Through the Eyes of ‘The Wolfpack’

Sandra Miska

There is no shortage of large, homeschooled families in the media these days, but the Angulo Family, who are the subjects of the Sundance award-winning documentary “The Wolfpack,” is a tad unique.  Like many other homeschooled kids, the seven Angulo children lived a somewhat isolated life.  What sets them apart from the pack is the fact that they lived in an apartment in Lower Manhattan.

Oscar Angulo, an immigrant from Peru, kept his wife Susanne and seven children locked up in their four-bedroom for years, letting them out only when necessary.  On a good year, they went out nine times.  One year they didn’t go out at all.  A Hare Krishna, Oscar gave his children all Sanskrit names and made all of them – including his six sons – wear their hair long down to their waists.  The patriarch refused to work, but his wife Susanne did receive money from the government for homeschooling her children.

One kindness Oscar showed his children was bringing thousands of videos and DVDs into their home, and these films became their only link to the outside world.  To pass the time, the siblings would reenact their favorites, complete with homemade props and costumes.  It’s amazing to watch the lengths they go to and all the creative energy they use in order to reenact films such as “The Dark Knight” and “Reservoir Dogs” (the brothers have a particular fondness for the works of Quentin Tarantino).

Everything changed for the Angulo family when 15-year-old Mukunda woke up one morning in 2010 and decided to sneak out while his father shopped for groceries.  Wearing a homemade Michael Myers mask, the young man attracted a lot of attention, including that of the police.  Taught to never trust strangers, Mukunda failed to answer their questions and was soon sent to a mental hospital.  Protective services took an interest in the family, and as a result, the children and their mother were gradually allowed more and more freedom.

It was around this time five years ago when recent film school grad Crystal Moselle encountered the six brothers, then aged 11 to 18, walking down First Avenue with matching Ray Ban sunglasses and waist-length hair.  Intrigued, she approached them, and although they were initially reluctant to engage with a stranger, they opened up to her upon learning of her film background.

Moselle soon earned the Angulos’s trust and was allowed into their home to film and interview the boys and their parents (the daughter, who it is implied has a mental disability, is rarely seen on camera).

At the beginning of the film, one wonders why Susanne, a native of Michigan, allowed her children to be locked up for so long.  It is soon revealed that she was also a victim of her husband, often being subjected to physical abuse and forbidden to contact her family.  In one of the most emotional scenes in “The Wolfpack,” Susanne contacts her mother for the first time in years and informs her that she herself is a mother of seven.

Despite all this, the Angulo children and their mother maintain an overall positive outlook, and it’s a joy to watch them move forward and see the world through their eyes.  In one particularly heartwarming scene, the brothers see a movie in the theater (“The Fighter”) for the first time.  While most people complain of skyrocketing movie prices, they boys are actually excited by the idea that the money the paid will possibly go to David O. Russell and Mark Wahlberg.

When the film ends, you are left wanting to know more about this extraordinary family, and we can surely expect to hear more about them as they branch out and continue to make their own films.

“The Wolfpack” opens June 12 at ArcLight Hollywood.