Review: ‘Lost Wolves of Yellowstone’ is One of the Best Docs of 2025
by Alex Billington
April 11, 2025
“Free-ranging wolves in Yellowstone – where are they going to go? What are they going to do?” 🐺 I can’t start this review without admitting that I have loved wolves all of my life. When I was in third grade, I spent time during school lessons trying to convince a wolf sanctuary to bring a wolf down to our elementary school in Colorado so my class could meet one in person and learn more about them (it didn’t happen – but I tried anyway). Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to hear me say that I loved this film about wolves and will now proclaim that it is one of the best documentaries of the year. Lost Wolves of Yellowstone is a brand new IMAX Original Documentary film, formerly known as Mollie’s Pack. It premiered at the 2025 CPH:DOX Film Festival in Copenhagen, along with premieres at the American Conservation Film Festival & DC Environmental Film Festival in the US. A deeply moving, emotional, profoundly inspiring, completely riveting film telling two distinct, intertwined stories about wolves & humans and their intrinsic connection.
Lost Wolves of Yellowstone is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Thomas Winston, known for nature docs including “Expedition Wild”, “Epic Yellowstone”, and Path of the Panther. The best intro: “On January 12, 1995 wolves returned to Yellowstone, 50 years after their extirpation. Mollie Beattie, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service then, carried the first Canadian-born wolf into [their] experimental acclimation enclosure, Alpha Female Wolf No. 5. From that day forward, their lives would be forever connected. This is the true story of Mollie’s Pack and the Lost Wolves of Yellowstone.” The doc film tells the story of Mollie, eventually revealing that one of the newly recovered wolf packs was named “Mollie’s Pack” after she passed away from cancer in 1996. The film also tells the story of Wolf #5, and the other wolves they brought down from Canada and released into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. I remember hearing about this story at the time because it was big news – one of the first animal reintroduction projects in America that was major and a bit controversial but also very successful. Plus wolves are amazing and they don’t deserve to be hunted or executed. They deserve to have the freedom to roam & live in this beautiful country the same as anyone.
What makes this documentary particularly remarkable is all of the footage they share in it. One scene early in on the film reveals to one of the original Yellowstone rangers working on this wolf project that they found & recovered ALL the original footage shot on film in the 1990s. The Yellowstone staff and conservationists who were directly involved in this wolf reintroduction project thought the footage was lost forever. They thought it would never be seen again by anyone. In addition to telling their stories firsthand, we now get to literally watch everything they’re saying play out on the big screen. And it’s truly breathtaking. There’s a reason why IMAX produced this doc & will release it on IMAX screens – because the footage is astonishing. Yellowstone is a spectacular National Park and so gosh darn gorgeous everywhere you look (watch this short film) – it’s awe-inspiring to sit back and watch all of this footage of the wolves roaming the lands, hunting elk, having fun, getting into trouble, and playing around while getting used to their new territory. I would’ve happily watched another hour and half of this just listening to stories of the wolves in Yellowstone all night long. An astoundingly beautiful doc about nature & survival and the animals we co-exist with on this planet.
My only minor complaint with Lost Wolves of Yellowstone is the overall structure of the film. In addition to the story of the wolf reintroduction project, as told by everyone involved, it also recalls the story of Mollie Beattie. She was the first woman ever chosen to lead US Fish and Wildlife, and forever changed America and humanity’s appreciation for & love of nature and animals. She championed the Endangered Species Act and was steadfast in her resolve to defend nature and animals above all. The film cuts back and forth between Mollie’s story, including her upbringing and her early years before her involvement in Yellowstone, as well as the story of the wolves and what happens to them. By the end I was thinking they could’ve split these two stories apart and made a film entirely about Mollie alone (because she is incredible & deserves a film about her) and kept this film focused on the wolves above all. That said, I can’t say I wasn’t moved by her story. I understand their connection and why the stories are linked and must be told together, but still, it’s all that is holding me back from giving this film a perfect 10/10 score. Nonetheless, it’s an extraordinary film I will be raving about all year long & telling every other wolf lover on this planet to see as soon as possible. Awoooo.
Alex’s CPH:DOX Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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