Lion

Composite Score: 84.37

Starring: Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Sunny Pawar, Abhishek Bharate, Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee, David Wenham, and Divian Ladwa

Director: Garth Davis

Writer: Luke Davies

Genres: Biography, Drama

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic material and some sensuality

Box Office: $140.85 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Lion is the film adaptation of Saroo Brierly’s autobiography A Long Way Home about his experiences as a lost child in India who was then adopted by an Australian family and eventually sought out his biological family as an adult, using his memories and Google Earth. The film highlights two eras of Saroo’s life – his childhood as a 5-year-old when he became a missing child on the streets of Calcutta and his young adult life as he becomes inspired to seek out his childhood home and family. The film stars Sunny Pawar as Saroo’s younger self and Dev Patel as his adult version. It also features Nicole Kidman and David Wenham as Saroo’s adoptive parents – Sue and John Brierly – Priyanka Bose as his mother Kamla, Abhishek Bharate as his older brother Guddu, and Rooney Mara as his love interest Lucy. It is a devastatingly emotional film about lost and found families, siblings, parents, and missing children that also happened to receive six Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Patel and Kidman, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                I should point out here that the film was distributed by the Weinstein Company, and even though Harvey Weinstein is not credited as a producer on the film, his company’s name does come up in the opening credits, and I still didn’t love seeing that even now that he’s been convicted of his crimes. But substantially, the film has very few flaws – the most glaring being a lethargic second act that works to connect Saroo’s harried childhood with his eventual search for that lost family as an adult by introducing a lot of side characters that serve the vague purpose of being “more Indian” than Saroo and reminding him of that missing piece of his life. In the midst of the slog, we get a romance storyline that again serves more as an encouraging distraction than a real piece of story before the actual search can begin. Don’t get me wrong, Rooney Mara and Dev Patel are great in their roles, and their romantic chemistry works; I just don’t see the point of that whole subplot. The more compelling moments of the second act come in Saroo’s interactions with his parents and his adoptive brother, Mantosh, played intensely and touchingly by Divian Ladwa. Those moments give us a deeper look into the film’s true conflict – Saroo’s love for his adoptive family pitted (in his mind) against his yearning to find the family of his childhood. Those extra moments take away from what could have been even more family drama developments that could have made this film that much better.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Slow and disjointed as the film’s middle bit is, the opening and closing of Saroo’s story in Lion are some of the best of their kinds in the last two decades of film at the least. Saroo’s childhood in the first act gives you a glimpse into the loving home that he had despite his impoverished state, showcasing a loving mother and closely connected siblings who supported each other through everything before Saroo becomes lost. That harrying sequence from Saroo going missing to his eventual adoption gives a thematic glimpse into the world of lost and homeless children in India (and implicitly around the world), never certain which adults to trust, forced to compete with and rely on other children to make it in the world. It’s difficult to watch at times but so incredibly moving. Sunny Pawar holds down the film’s first act as young Saroo excellently, presenting the audience with a young protagonist worth rooting for and feeling with, excelling beyond most young actors close to his age. The film’s final act, when Saroo commits to finding his biological family, is marked by building excitement and emotional payoffs. This is the act when the acting nominations are earned with masterclasses from both Patel and Kidman in honesty and tension and the unconditional love of family. It all comes to its incredibly emotional head with Saroo’s return to India that comes close to being equal parts the happiest and most gut-wrenching climaxes of the 2010s.

                Lion is a film that begins and ends with emotional, well-acted bangs, achieving greatness on the backs of a deeply compelling story and strongly moving performances from Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, and Nicole Kidman. Its shortcomings in its second act might bore some viewers before they make it to the end, but those who give up will be missing out on one of the most emotionally impactful climaxes ever put to screen. This film is currently available to stream for free with ads on Tubi and Freevee or to rent on most other streaming services for anyone trying to watch it in the near future.