Mark O’Connor’s ‘AMONGST THE WOLVES’ (2025) – Movie Review

I admit that Mark O’Connor’s Amongst The Wolves is based on the false idea that this is a werewolf movie. However, this movie isn’t about any monster except the human race and how despicable we can get with each other sometimes. Though it didn’t pique my interest at first, I slowly began to understand what was going on here. I cannot sit back and watch action movies, but here I was, ready to give this a chance. I am a little glad I did, because it was entertaining, although some lines were crossed. That’s just how movies are today. Everyone wants to go for extreme scenes, but  Amongst The Wolves broke a few of my codes that will leave me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Synopsis

Danny (Luke McQuillan), an ex-soldier homeless in Dublin, meets Willn (Daniel Fee), a teen fleeing a drug gang led by a man named Power (Aidan Gillen). With help from a volunteer from a homeless shelter named Kate (Louise Bourke). Their encounter forces them to confront their pasts while navigating the harsh realities they face.

*Trigger Warning*

I will be completely honest, this movie has many trigger warnings, which is one thing I couldn’t get with, and in fact, after the first run-in with animal cruelty, I almost walked away from this movie. However, this is a new generation who feel comfortable breaking unwritten laws in the horror community, it’s kind of cringeworthy if you want my honest opinion. I get it, it’s getting viewers; however, to me, that doesn’t make it OK. I definitely wasn’t impressed by those scenes at all. Even if they didn’t show much of anything, the sentiment is very clear. Sometimes we will find those things that make me uncomfortable in different movies.

All animals aside, I know that obviously, it’s just acting, but from bad guys to good, there wasn’t much to offer. The characters weren’t very well built, such as the girl who takes care of the homeless. Although all these factors didn’t deter me, as being involved in the movie was definitely a fun story. Even for an action movie, Amongst The Wolves was interesting because there is no gray area for me. I judge movies as either good or bad. However, I found the gray area this time, it was too complicated. I found a gray area for this film. Although there was a great story. There are several points I didn’t like at all. Then there were the scenes that made me cringe when it came to realism.

In The End

There was a confusing takeaway from Amongst The Wolves. However, I firmly believe that everyone needs to watch it to come to their own opinion. It’s a film that even Chuck Norris would run scared. I see the point of the director. Also, let me add that everyone did their best, and I have seen far worse movies. This will sit in the gray area for a while. Not because of the premise, but because I dislike movies I have to dissect.

I will give credit where credit is due. Though I got the gist of it, the movie leaves an empty spot, because you want more. You want to see where the story goes beyond the good guy winning the fight, which took almost 2 hours to finally see what you want. Lastly, I want to give the director and writers a big high five for trying with their story to make sense of it.

In the very end, I will definitely watch it again. Just to see the passion to make this film great.