Like Sheep Among Wolves [Come pecore in mezzo ai lupi] ** (2023, Isabella Ragonese, Andrea Arcangeli, Clara Ponsot, Tommaso Ragno, Carolina Michelangeli, Gennaro Di Colandrea) – Classic Movie Review 14,001

An estranged cop sister and gun-toting brother are thrown back together during a high-stakes heist, in the 2023 Italian crime thriller film Like Sheep Among Wolves [Come pecore in mezzo ai lupi].

Director Lyda Patitucci’s 2023 film Like Sheep Among Wolves is a watchable and entertaining enough but undemanding and unsurprising Italian crime thriller, in which an estranged sister and brother are thrown back into each other’s lives during a high-stakes heist. The sister Vera (Isabella Ragonese) is an undercover cop who has infiltrated in a criminal gang and is looking for revenge, redemption and survival, while her brother Bruno (Andrea Arcangeli) is trying to hold on to his gun and his young daughter and still get away with some of the heist loot.

Isabella Ragonese gives a good, solid, strong performance as the scary uber-tough woman in a man’s world, but even she can’t explain why her character of undercover cop repeatedly survives when all around her are falling down like ninepins. Why do they keep trusting her when she tells them she isn’t a cop and they know there’s a snitch in the gang?

There are a couple of heist action sequences, well enough done but nothing remarkable. The same goes for the Rome location shooing. Actually that’s the film, well enough done but nothing remarkable. The plot is serviceable but feels over-familiar and is entirely predictable. It’s difficult carving out fresh ground from these antique situations, but it can be done, and better than it is here.

Usually you can just accept what is going on in an action thriller, and never ask any questions, but here the film actually challenges you to do that. A risky strategy, when they don’t come up with the answers.

Runtime: 100 minutes.

Released: 2023-07-13.

Production: MiC, RAI Cinema, Fandango.

Cast: Isabella Ragonese, Andrea Arcangeli, Clara Ponsot, Tommaso Ragno, Carolina Michelangeli, Gennaro Di Colandrea.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 14,001

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

• Genre: Crime
• Country: Italy
• Director: Lyda Patitucci