Director: Mark O’Connor
Writers: Luke McQuillan, Mark O’Connor
Stars: Luke McQuillan, Aidan Gillen, Daniel Fee
Synopsis: Danny, an ex-soldier homeless in Dublin, meets Will, a teen fleeing a drug gang. Their encounter forces them to confront their pasts while navigating the harsh realities they face.
Everyone has experiences in their lives that leave scars. Whether those scars are visible to others or not, they alter our lives, challenging us in new ways. When misfortune leads to desperation, those seeking to prey on others at their lowest make themselves known. Amongst the Wolves weaves a narrative that attempts to blend a thrilling crime tale with a psychological journey for the film’s lead. Life becomes bleak for Danny (Luke McQuillan) when his life takes a downward turn that is seemingly impossible to reverse. There’s a lot packed into this film, leaving the most compelling moments with more to say.
We first meet Danny in the shroud of night, rummaging through trash bags outside of a clothing donation drop-off. Cleaning off a pair of children’s cleats he has found, he’s confronted by a group of young men whose intentions are anything but kind. Amongst The Wolves quickly shows just how down on his luck Danny is; without a home or his family by his side, he reflects on his life and the choices he has made to get to where he is. A veteran who is haunted by flashbacks of his past, he keeps to himself until he stumbles upon Will (Daniel Fee), a young man hiding in the woods from dangerous drug lords. The film is at its best while it is exploring Danny’s dark and often muddled past; moments where he must face his mistakes make for the most tragic and memorable bits of the story.
Danny and Will form an unlikely pairing; one is an ex-soldier at the lowest point of his life, and the other made one small mistake that will end up costing him something money can’t buy. They both bond over their situations; Danny sees himself as someone who needs to redeem himself for his past, which isn’t fully revealed to the audience outside of flashbacks that give just enough insight to show his flaws. Will needs Danny’s help to fend off crime boss, Power (Aidan Gillen) and his band of violent thugs. It’s easy to get lost in Amongst The Wolves with Danny constantly on the move, and new plot lines popping up with each new character that is introduced. Danny’s life is almost too chaotic to believe, leading the film to a resolution that takes away from the more important conversations this film attempts to create.
Where Amongst The Wolves hooked me was its leading performance from McQuillan, fully embracing his character’s shortfalls and playing him with just enough empathy. Danny is a character that you root for even when he gives you all the reasons not to. McQuillan’s best work is in the subtleness of his approach to the character; he has a quiet demeanor and often only makes eye contact when it’s absolutely needed. But he’s able to ramp up his performance during action sequences or when he’s holding someone up that owes his new friend, Will, some money. The rest of the cast is serviceable; Fee, who has his feature film debut here, has few moments outside of his scenes with McQuillan to showcase his acting abilities that unfortunately don’t leave much of a lasting impression. Gillen gives a rather on-the-nose performance as the main villain and feels like characters he’s played already in his filmography.
Writer and director Mark O’Connor juggles a lot of themes in Amongst The Wolves, tying into the culture of the land whether it be through the court systems with Danny’s ongoing child custody battle or how homelessness is viewed and treated. When O’Connor is exploring the societal impacts of losing all that you love and care for is where the film shines, showing a man who is imperfect but still worthy of a better life. It shows how untreated PTSD chips away at all aspects of life. Sadly, the film loses its focus with its attempt to be some kind of high-stakes action thriller, and the touching story of a man trying to redeem himself gets lost. O’Connor gives the female cast, Danny’s wife Gill (Jade Jordan), and charity worker love interest Kate (Louise Bourke), little to do outside of being obstacles for Danny or showing his more tender side.
The film’s visuals crank up the bleakness of Danny, and even Will’s circumstances, with its gloomy backdrop of Ireland. Everything is either drowned out by the nonstop rain or caked in grime and dirt. Danny can often be seen with dried blood in his hair from a previous tussle, or hands filthy from sleeping on the soaked ground. Power and his band of punch-happy followers don a mask at the end of the film that, although it is completely out of place next to the modest clothing each character wears, showcases sleek design. Ignas Laugalis, the film’s cinematographer, captures the mundane beauty in the smaller details of the film, the way the sun peeks through the windows of a charity shop, or the quiet sadness of Danny watching his son through a barred fence just out of reach of his old life. At times, you can almost smell the rain or the fresh dewy morning of the forest through Laugalis’ visuals.
Overall, there’s enough to enjoy within Amongst The Wolves from its lead performance to its often scenic visuals that make the film worth a watch. Its refusal to stick with one genre over another is ambitious, and although it doesn’t completely pay off, there’s a conversation to be had about mental health and the treatment of those society deems unworthy, and its impact on all aspects of life.
