Since most of the major altcoins move up or down at the same time as bitcoin, aren't they all controlled? How does it work?

Not controlled, I would say the crypto market is influenced by bitcoin. Bitcoin enjoys the perks of being the biggest and oldest crypto. But the crypto market is not entirely influenced by bitcoin. There are multiple coins in the market which shows a contradicting pricing pattern. But when it comes to other big cryptos, they are usually a follower of the pricing trend of bitcoin. But they are not controlled in any way!