Irish crime thriller “Amongst the Wolves” has landed a North-American home: indie distributor Sunrise Films will roll the Mark O’Connor feature into select U.S. cinemas and on digital platforms on July 11, 2025. The company’s pick-up continues its strategy of importing festival standouts, following its spring release of Naqqash Khalid’s In Camera.
The picture, fronted by Aidan Gillen as gang boss Power and co-writer Luke McQuillan as traumatised veteran Danny, opened in Ireland and the U.K. earlier this year and dropped on British-Irish VOD outlets on 2 June via Vertigo Releasing. Critics praised McQuillan’s raw portrayal of homelessness while noting Gillen’s restrained menace; The Guardian called the result “uneven yet gripping.”
O’Connor first unspooled the film at the Galway Film Fleadh in July 2024, where cast and crew held an on-stage Q&A. A North-American festival bow followed at Newport Beach that autumn, positioning the project for buyers. Further exposure came through screenings at Manchester Film Festival and Ireland’s capital-city cinemas, establishing word-of-mouth ahead of its international rollout.
The story tracks Danny, a homeless ex-soldier in Dublin whose bond with runaway teen Will draws lethal attention from Power’s drug crew, blending social realism with pulse-raising violence. O’Connor—known for 2017 Irish box-office hit Cardboard Gangsters—once again foregrounds marginalised characters, a focus the director has described as central to his film-making ethos.
Sunrise Films co-founder Andrew Nerger said the acquisition fits the label’s aim to grow “audiences for edge-of-street stories from visionary voices.” The U.S. push will include limited theatrical engagements in New York, Boston and Chicago, followed by a swift TVOD window on major stores, mirroring the company’s recent rollout tactics. With streaming and theatrical rights now settled, O’Connor’s gritty drama looks set to reach the wider audience hinted at during its festival run while adding another title to Sunrise’s expanding slate of Irish imports.
