Reviews

Samuel Kishi crafts a remarkable film that reflects on the immigrant experience and the sacrifices they must make to survive.

I am a son of an immigrant, my father had to make the toughest decision to come over to a country he knew nothing about to be able to be with my mother. My mother is a daughter of immigrants, her parents made a tough decision to cross the border and provide a better life to their children than the one they had in Mexico. My family is filled with a history of being immigrants and we carry that with us every day of our lives. We are reminded every time we look around of the countless struggles and obstacles we crossed to be able to stand comfortably in this land we still don’t know a lot about. These are not easy decisions to make but sometimes they are the only viable ones. You have to leave your life back home and start from zero in a new place where you know nothing of the customs, language, and culture that you find yourself in now. There are many like you around but even then you still don’t entirely feel like you belong over here but you remember that in this life you have to sacrifice a lot. The Wolves is a film that follows these exact beats and speaks on this very experience.

The Wolves is directed by Samuel Kishi and stars Martha Reyes Arias, Maximiliano Nájar Márquez, and Leonardo Nájar Márquez as a family that immigrates to the United States from Mexico. The boys stay in their apartment that does not have a proper bed to sleep on while their mother works long shifts for multiple jobs while trying to make ends meet. The boys spend their days hanging out with each other and listening to tapes that their mother has left them with stories of the past and English lessons. The boys are given a set of rules they must follow but as their stay prolongs things get harder and harder to understand. All while they are told that one day they will get to go to Disneyland. These boys befriend their landlords while staying at this complex and get to know the neighborhood children who pose problems for them.

The film is expertly directed with a beautiful screenplay to accompany it. There was not a single moment here where my attention was somewhere else. I was emotional throughout this whole ordeal watching as these boys try to understand how much their mom is sacrificing for them. Maybe it is because I relate a lot to what these boys feel because I grew up a lot like them with not a lot as times were very tight with money. The film also is crafted with some exquisite and powerful cinematography by Octavio Arauz. Our main cast also give wonderful performances that creep right into your heart even when there is not a lot of words being spoken. The Wolves enriches your experience with empathy and beauty in understanding the immigrant experience. What is not being said directly is discussed through its moments of tenderness in the story.

We are following this journey with these children as viewers to understand the sacrifices someone must make to provide a good life to those they love. We understand everything must be given up when we have to leave all we know. We sympathize with the feeling of being lost and not knowing how to ask for the help when we really need it. We learn to be patient because we don’t always understand the severity of the situations we find ourselves in. Most importantly, we learn to just keep moving forward because at the end of the day we are all a culmination of the sacrifices that those who came before us made.

The Wolves is available to watch on HBO Max.