Wolf Hiding is a rough, hard-core crime thriller that takes the audience into the dark side of power, corruption and deceit. The movie is based on an isolated island in the Pacific and a criminal organization that deals in organ trafficking, whereby a series of inter-relationships and intrigues are threatening to overthrow its unstable and weak management. The elaborate and thrilling nature of the story leaves the audience in suspense because major characters such as Hong Tai, Ugo and Wang Ruopu are in a dangerous territory of killing, lying and self-ambition in politics. The thick-layered plot and ambiguous moralistic characters in the narrative creates a feeling of chaos and moral ambiguity that is disturbing and alluring.
On a visual level, the movie uses starkness, visceral approach that focuses on the gritty-ness of the setting. The settings of the island, the cramped interior of the hidden hideouts and the police stations add to the stress, and the action scenes and the fights are rough and desperate. The acting is very strong, particularly of the actors who are playing the part of the corrupt officials and cold-blooded criminals as they reveal the conflict between the allegiance and betrayal. The editing is crisp, keeping the pace quick, which creates suspense by using a sequence of twists and betrayals, and the soundtrack accentuates the dark mood of the film, making some of the scenes more dangerous and uncertain.
The most striking thing was that the film explored the issue of power and how it corrupts people and can make them violent and morally corrupt through greed and ambition. The complex plot and multiple motives in the character development create the feeling of discomfort, causing one to think about the essence of loyalty and the price of misloyalty. Wolf Hiding creates the impression of a world in which trust is unstable, and only being a cunning and large-scale murderer can keep you alive. It is a sensual, gut-wrenching depiction of brutal reality behind criminal empire politics- dark, multi-layered and emotionally evocative.
