The one thing I will give this documentary is that it was unexpected. There were a few 'bombshell' moments that I did not see coming, and were handled very well by the film makers. The story was unique, the people interviewed relevant, and the storyline flowed well. Not a perfect doc, but conveyed a strong message and for the most part kept neutral.
38 Reviews
Unbelievable documentary
Red-12524 October 2021
Misha and the Wolves (2021) was written and directed by Sam Hobkinson.
The Misha in the title is Misha Defonseca, who tells the harrowing story of of her childhood during the Holocaust. She tell about leaving her home and walking through the woods. During this terrible time, she is helped by a pack of wolves.
What happens next is the plot of the film. This is a movie definitely worth seeing. However, if you read the reviews of critics or watch the trailer, you'll lose some of the enjoyment of the film. My suggestion is to rent it, watch it, and then see what others have written.
This movie has a weak IMDb rating of 6.7. I thought that it was much better than that, and rated it 8.
The Misha in the title is Misha Defonseca, who tells the harrowing story of of her childhood during the Holocaust. She tell about leaving her home and walking through the woods. During this terrible time, she is helped by a pack of wolves.
What happens next is the plot of the film. This is a movie definitely worth seeing. However, if you read the reviews of critics or watch the trailer, you'll lose some of the enjoyment of the film. My suggestion is to rent it, watch it, and then see what others have written.
This movie has a weak IMDb rating of 6.7. I thought that it was much better than that, and rated it 8.
INCREDIBLE
albertval-6956015 August 2021
It's an amazing story with its own unexpected turns. One has his/her own way of looking at Misha and her story. The detective work of Belgian Evelyne Haendel, a Holocaust survivor herself, is remarkable. She was really persistent. In the end, Deborah Dwork's words ring true. Misha's story affects the story of all other Holocaust survivors.
The artist's sketches to aid in storytelling are noteworthy.
The artist's sketches to aid in storytelling are noteworthy.
A bit of a slow go, but worth it in the end
johnpauljones18 January 2022
Misha and the Wolves takes a while to get going, a long while. And toward the middle, it really bogs down. But the last 20-30 minutes are a decent payoff.
If this documentary were edited better, and if we lost the 20-30 minutes of people staring at the camera and making faces, it would have been so much better.
This could have been a stellar 40-50 minute piece. Instead, it felt very stretched out and felt time-wastingly slow.
I had to stop halfway through and check in with the friend who recommended it to me. He told me the twist at the end was worth it, and it was.
I still recommend watching it, but I'd recommend multitasking for the first 50-60 minutes.
If this documentary were edited better, and if we lost the 20-30 minutes of people staring at the camera and making faces, it would have been so much better.
This could have been a stellar 40-50 minute piece. Instead, it felt very stretched out and felt time-wastingly slow.
I had to stop halfway through and check in with the friend who recommended it to me. He told me the twist at the end was worth it, and it was.
I still recommend watching it, but I'd recommend multitasking for the first 50-60 minutes.
They should have put more stress on these important points...
timruiz17 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Misha's story was something she shared only with close family and friends. She never attempted to venture beyond that until continually urged to share it at temple. Then she would have likely never published her story except at the continued urging of Jane. Jane later tries to justify her financial misdealings by going on a journey to prove the story false, something she didn't seem to care to much about until it suited her new purpose. If there is a villain in this story, it is Jane. I can understand why the settlement was reduced, that often happens with financial verdicts delivered by juries. But I was happy that it was not entirely ser aside.
An unusually interesting doc about truth and lies and fake news.
JohnDeSando23 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Misha and the Wolves is a Netflix documentary for all documentarians, a primer on the truth combatted by the thrust of lies, which too often are disguised as truth. Misha and the Wolves chronicles Misha Defonseca's personal narrative of survival during the Holocaust.
Misha describes her flight as a 7-year-old Jew from occupied Belgium to Germany to find her deported parents. She does Anne Frank one better by not staying in a hideout but slogging countless miles, part of the time living with wolves. If the audience accepts the numerous staged shots as not compromising the veracity of the testimony, then this doc is a mesmerizing chronicle that won her best-selling book status and movie treatment.
Misha and the Wolves may feel like Jerzy Kosinski's Painted Bird (1965), weaving a narrative of Holocaust survival and flight at a young age, winning National Book Award, only to be disgraced by allegations of deceit.
Misha captures the enthusiasm of such notables as Oprah and millions of her fellow citizens buying Misha's book and celebrating her with unbridled enthusiasm. But like Kosinski's story, Misha's is false. After meticulous research in European archives, a Belgian genealogist proves Misha to have been a protected Catholic from a family whose captured father turned informant to the Nazis on his underground resistance fighters. Such a bizarre plot twist would almost not be accepted in fiction yet fooled the best literary minds of Europe and America.
The truth becomes a caution to those who don't challenge whatever they hear until they have responsible verification. In a way, Donald Trump must be credited for making us aware of our vulnerability to "fake news." While one talking head claims no redemptive value in Misha's false narrative, our awareness of being conned can only help us to become better stewards of cultural communications.
So many smart people were duped by their desire to have Misha's story be true, by their sympathy for Nazi survivors, and by their willingness to believe as long as the teller is using the right words and looking the right way.
Misha and the Wolves is an effective primer on deceptive communication. After hearing about Misha's journey, few of us would doubt its truth, yet doubt should have risen hastily as some initially said, "This is too good to be true."
Misha describes her flight as a 7-year-old Jew from occupied Belgium to Germany to find her deported parents. She does Anne Frank one better by not staying in a hideout but slogging countless miles, part of the time living with wolves. If the audience accepts the numerous staged shots as not compromising the veracity of the testimony, then this doc is a mesmerizing chronicle that won her best-selling book status and movie treatment.
Misha and the Wolves may feel like Jerzy Kosinski's Painted Bird (1965), weaving a narrative of Holocaust survival and flight at a young age, winning National Book Award, only to be disgraced by allegations of deceit.
Misha captures the enthusiasm of such notables as Oprah and millions of her fellow citizens buying Misha's book and celebrating her with unbridled enthusiasm. But like Kosinski's story, Misha's is false. After meticulous research in European archives, a Belgian genealogist proves Misha to have been a protected Catholic from a family whose captured father turned informant to the Nazis on his underground resistance fighters. Such a bizarre plot twist would almost not be accepted in fiction yet fooled the best literary minds of Europe and America.
The truth becomes a caution to those who don't challenge whatever they hear until they have responsible verification. In a way, Donald Trump must be credited for making us aware of our vulnerability to "fake news." While one talking head claims no redemptive value in Misha's false narrative, our awareness of being conned can only help us to become better stewards of cultural communications.
So many smart people were duped by their desire to have Misha's story be true, by their sympathy for Nazi survivors, and by their willingness to believe as long as the teller is using the right words and looking the right way.
Misha and the Wolves is an effective primer on deceptive communication. After hearing about Misha's journey, few of us would doubt its truth, yet doubt should have risen hastily as some initially said, "This is too good to be true."
It proves what we've witnessed 1st hand over the last few years!!
joiningjt20 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The1 st thing that came to me when it started was no way a 7 year old with no food or water, no experience at being homeless survived in the wild the way this misha claimed. I moved out at 14 it was 1975 and it was a constant struggle and was extremely hard and I was a 14 year old boy in USA. Then we witnessed what the politicians and even our president saod to us that was not miss information but lies yet millions believed them. The virus was killing millions yet people chose to believe it was a hoax. Now they believe what anti vaxxers are saying and thus more are dying. They'd rather be dead than be wrong!! Like the famous PT Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute, but now its every SECOND!!!
Really?
screenwriter-972-1496128 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A well-done documentary. Nice piece of storytelling and, I suppose, detective work. Given Netflix' many misses with the documentary format, it's good to note a job well done. Having said that, after viewing you may not agree with reviewers who state that they were 'surprised' or 'shocked' by the revelations within the story. If I were to predict, it will take you no more than ten minutes to experience enough 'huh?' moments to conclude that 'Mischa' is lying. Maybe you'll do it in five.
Beyond the wolf nonsense, there are verbal descriptions of eastern Germany that might have occurred in Western Poland or Russia, but certainly not in early World War 2 Germany. So, there's that. But this initial uneasiness with the story line is more than compensated for by parallel stories of publishing and then the detective work that reveals the truth. Both story lines are told well with just the right amount of drama. A good effort by all concerned. But the best part, the truly best part is the coda supplied by a Holocaust historian. She sums up what we've seen for what it is and what it isn't. And I think she captures it correctly.
Beyond the wolf nonsense, there are verbal descriptions of eastern Germany that might have occurred in Western Poland or Russia, but certainly not in early World War 2 Germany. So, there's that. But this initial uneasiness with the story line is more than compensated for by parallel stories of publishing and then the detective work that reveals the truth. Both story lines are told well with just the right amount of drama. A good effort by all concerned. But the best part, the truly best part is the coda supplied by a Holocaust historian. She sums up what we've seen for what it is and what it isn't. And I think she captures it correctly.
Disturbing
kappabee15 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I gave this documentary a 10 because of the importance of getting the truth out about the fake Holocaust memoire created by Misha Defonseca. Some people believe she is psychologically unwell, which is true, but after watching the documentary I would say that beyond her questionable psychological well-being, greed was the driving force. Using the Holocaust to prey on people's compassion was her Machiavellian tactic which is why I don't really buy into her excuse that she confused reality with fantasy. I used "disturbing" as the title of this review because while I felt she was lying from the minute I saw an image of her, she she managed to con many people to the point of suing her publisher for millions of dollars. I mean, disturbing, greedy and shameful to boot. I don't undermine her own suffering which I do think was real, but instead of using a truthful path to heal her wounds, she chose to humiliate an entire community. She turned down an appearance on Oprah maybe because she feared Oprah would figure her out? It would be the move that would cause her downfall... Checkmate.
Not bad, has holes
capncack-7113117 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The story isn't uninteresting, but I would have loved to have been there to press the publisher. She was convicted of offshoring profits rather than paying them out. She NEVER even comes within a light-year of actually addressing this conviction (and she lost the appeal) but is whining about her life has been destroyed by this little old lady, so she sets out to ruin HER in revenge. What I wanted to know was "So, publisher, you DID in fact rip this woman off for millions in profits, right? So why would I trust ANYTHING you do or say?" Also, a birth certificate and school certificate indicate SOMEONE went to school there and was named a certain thing. It is NOT proof that Misha is this same person. There is no way at this remove to prove or disprove that based on a birth cert and school records. As for the different names in different editions of the books ... did Misha do the translating? No, the publishing companies do that. So why is the criminal publisher claiming this was something Misha did? Did Misha rewrite her book in different languages? Who does that? No one does - the publisher does. So ... they may both be liars, but the narrative is FULL of infuriating holes and huge leaps to conclusions not supported by the evidence.
Intriguing
helenahandbasket-9373416 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This documentary does a fairly adept maneuvering between perspectives and allows the audience to decide for themselves what to take away from the deception- I find myself in a peculiar place of feeling instant distrust of the story from the initial description, but hesitating because, despite numerous frauds in this circle of literature, you just can't bring yourself to question the authenticity of a Holocaust survivor.
It seems a painful endeavor to even slightly lift an eyebrow because 'who am I to call into question the experience of another when I have no basis in fact'?
And herein lies what I believe to be at the root of Misha, and others like her; there's a certain level of credibility that comes with these claims, and it's not acceptable to pronounce someone a fraud for fear you cause them further angst/suffering. If you're wrong, you've done them a great disservice, and could cause further damage to their person. So we tend to give a certain level of credibility and push down those feelings of doubt.
But that's where these fraudsters live and prey- on the presumed honesty and integrity given to them as supposed survivors. But what I liked regarding this film is, the commentary that specifically speaks to these manipulators- that their lies have a profound impact on the historical accuracy, give ferocious fuel to the flames of the deniers.
I don't care for the glossing over of the guilt of this woman, and is why I only gave 8 instead of 10- I don't care how 'traumatized' she was by her treacherous father, there's simply no excuse for what she's done, along with the immense monetary damage done to her first publisher (who really should have done her own void-ire into this charlatan) and countless others who fell for her fraud and indulged her nonsense. That she's living a quiet life is contrary to everything our society stands for.
Simply put, she preyed upon society with outright lies, knowing they were lies. Continued with her nonsensical grift and now has shifted the narrative to still somehow be a victim. That she's allowed to be forgiven for the horrific crime of diminishing those whose suffering was very real and incredibly painful is nothing short of disgusting.
It seems a painful endeavor to even slightly lift an eyebrow because 'who am I to call into question the experience of another when I have no basis in fact'?
And herein lies what I believe to be at the root of Misha, and others like her; there's a certain level of credibility that comes with these claims, and it's not acceptable to pronounce someone a fraud for fear you cause them further angst/suffering. If you're wrong, you've done them a great disservice, and could cause further damage to their person. So we tend to give a certain level of credibility and push down those feelings of doubt.
But that's where these fraudsters live and prey- on the presumed honesty and integrity given to them as supposed survivors. But what I liked regarding this film is, the commentary that specifically speaks to these manipulators- that their lies have a profound impact on the historical accuracy, give ferocious fuel to the flames of the deniers.
I don't care for the glossing over of the guilt of this woman, and is why I only gave 8 instead of 10- I don't care how 'traumatized' she was by her treacherous father, there's simply no excuse for what she's done, along with the immense monetary damage done to her first publisher (who really should have done her own void-ire into this charlatan) and countless others who fell for her fraud and indulged her nonsense. That she's living a quiet life is contrary to everything our society stands for.
Simply put, she preyed upon society with outright lies, knowing they were lies. Continued with her nonsensical grift and now has shifted the narrative to still somehow be a victim. That she's allowed to be forgiven for the horrific crime of diminishing those whose suffering was very real and incredibly painful is nothing short of disgusting.
Wake Up Call As I See It
AudioFileZ23 August 2021
Everyone feels pressure to be "politically correct". It's nothing new especially for correcting any past wrongs that are immoral. This doc about how a woman who used this climate for "her survival story" shows how easy manipulation is. There is a wake-up call here that's relevant for the current day.
I wouldn't say that's the point of this film however. It chronicles a very "out-there" story in which many were mesmerized by. The path it took was a messy one too yet it, at least in Europe, was a best-selling book and lauded movie. It took the story's writer being successfully sued by the subject of said story to begin questioning it. Too much was taken at face value is obvious as the real story comes to light. Plenty of well-meaning gullible people were taken in with a certain few driven by...yep, greed. It may not be a great survival story but it's an interesting criminal hoax. Striving to always be politically correct is akin to wanting to be fooled.
I wouldn't say that's the point of this film however. It chronicles a very "out-there" story in which many were mesmerized by. The path it took was a messy one too yet it, at least in Europe, was a best-selling book and lauded movie. It took the story's writer being successfully sued by the subject of said story to begin questioning it. Too much was taken at face value is obvious as the real story comes to light. Plenty of well-meaning gullible people were taken in with a certain few driven by...yep, greed. It may not be a great survival story but it's an interesting criminal hoax. Striving to always be politically correct is akin to wanting to be fooled.
Was THAT Your First Clue?!? Really?!?
dummy-795 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The only real ASTONISHING thing about this story was that their first clue to the lie was her name switch and NOT the part that a 7 year old girl could survive for years in a war zone protected by wolves.
The correct title should be "Greedy Idiots Scammed by a Pathological Liar".
The correct title should be "Greedy Idiots Scammed by a Pathological Liar".
Sloppy Timeline
AndreaWeaver15 May 2022
This is a very curious documentary; certainly worth the watch for those who enjoy an investigative story about somewhat outlandish claims. I didn't love how the film was set up; the decision regarding chronology and style was not to my taste and felt a bit sloppy. However, one can over look that when taking into account the message being conveyed; an exploration of trauma, childhood coping mechanisms and the careful path one must tread when taking oral account from those claiming to have experienced supernatural or horrific things. Certainly worth the time...
Shocking story that was told incredibly well.
xanthitoupoyannis12 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not sure why there's reviews of 1 basically explaining the documentary like they know something that other viewers don't. I'm pretty sure they didn't watch this, did a quick Wiki search and jumped to a dumb conclusion. The whole point is that the story was fictional, hence the documentary about an incredibly interesting story of lies and deceit that fooled everyone.
The Detective Work Of, The Belgian Holocaust Survivor, Evelyne Haende Was Equal To Her Fictitious Belgian Colleague, Hercule Poirot
silicontourist19 September 2021
This documentary was like a film within a film, that did not seem like a documentary, but more of a mystery thriller TV episode. It was paced well and the presentation was very well done and, it kept you well entertained. I had guessed within the first 5 minutes or less - as I am sure the many who have seen it did also - that the heroine of the story was...I won't say more so as not to give the story away if you have not yet viewed this superb bio film. I was not however expecting her to have such a complexed personality disorder. I initially had just thought she was a despicable fraud.
Of the 135 documentary films I have so far watched this year, this is definitely in my top 10!
Of the 135 documentary films I have so far watched this year, this is definitely in my top 10!
Boring
TheNamelessCzar25 February 2023
I went into this having dove idea what it was about as unfortunately spoilers were embedded in every review and recommendation for the film I saw. Also just the way the movie was set up and presented, it was obvious what the twist was going to be. This, there was no suspense or aha moment for me. I felt the flow of the movie was awkward and stumbling. The filmmakers could have done a much better job connecting the different narrators and providing better detail into how who figured out what. In the end, it seemed to easy for the players to solve the mystery. I found myself checking the time several times as it dragged and became boring. Not impressed.
Astonishing.
tacheraj26 July 2021
True crime podcast come to life
jellopuke2 September 2021
There's a nice mystery story here to discover if you've never heard of it, so go in blind. It's made very by the book, but when you have a story with so many twists, you don't have to get fancy. Solid work, worth seeing once.
Absolutely fascinating engrossing tale of fraud and self-delusion
tobydammit-216 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Riveting documentary about a Holocaust survivor with a fantastical story who is propelled to stardom by people who want to believe it, only to be exposed as a complete fraud who wasn't even Jewish! Excellent documentary, but we never learn exactly how much money she made, which could have been in the millions!
Unexpectedly Confronting, and also quite sad.
leighmullan12 August 2021
greed and resentment
lululul7 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
So one fraud wants to make money off another fraud plus a bunch of other parasites all attracted to this morbid situation : pathological liars and narcissists and bitter ones out for revenge. Jane is the worst, just my opinion, still making money off the whole situation. But she is not alone. I am a jew and resent the jane's of the world, they can convince themselves they do what they do for the right reasons, but they only know greed. Despicable. If jane didn't lose that lawsuit she would have collected her money and go on with her greedy life.
Holy Macrel
mls418224 July 2022
I won't give anything away but this was something else.
If Netflix went for quality like this instead of quantity and streaming any cruddy documentary out there they've the gold standard of streaming.
This was a heck of a story.
If Netflix went for quality like this instead of quantity and streaming any cruddy documentary out there they've the gold standard of streaming.
This was a heck of a story.
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