Offering an intimate window into the migrant experience, director Samuel Kishi Leopo has shaped a tender and honest drama about displacement, family and hope, recalling aspects of his own childhood in an immigrant community.
The careful balance between childlike wonder and adult pragmaticism... makes Los Lobos feel like an act not just of remembrance, but of steadfast love and gratitude.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2021
Los Lobos 2019
“You are strong wolves. Wolves don’t cry. Wolves bite. They howl. And they protect their home.” These are the words Lucía leaves with her two sons, Max and Leo, as she goes to work. The brothers have arrived in the US from Mexico with their mother, who is struggling to make ends meet. While waiting for her to return from work, the boys watch the outside world from their window, create an imaginary universe with their drawings, listen to English lessons recorded by Lucia and dream of her promise to take them to Disneyland. — Nic Marshall
“As if it were a fable whispered in your ear by a soothing voice, Los Lobos (“The Wolves”) radiates melancholic warmth with its story of a mother and her sons starting from scratch in a foreign land. Told with unassuming force by Samuel Kishi Leopo, the Mexican director’s second semi-autobiographical feature doesn’t overlook the harsh truths but returns to hope; it is capable of both wounding and healing one’s heartstrings with its gentle touch...
In a world so severely lacking compassion, Kishi Leopo’s latest [feature] feels like the cinematic equivalent of a tight embrace that reminds us we can howl ourselves out of any storm.” — Carlos Aguilar, RogerEbert.com