Review of Lion (2016) by Spangle — 07 Feb 2017

Going into watching Lion, I expected a cliched feel good film. I expected it to be overly manipulative and, while a solid film, nothing particularly special. My expectations were misguided, however. A powerful, spiritual, and lyrical journey to find one's own identity, Lion is a film that snuck up on me, but left me in absolute ruins. The power of this film is not to be understated as Lion is a film that never ceases to be powerful and emotionally impactful. It discards the cliches, develops characters, and is a film whose emotional power is well earned and never manipulative. For a feature-length debut for director Garth Davis, Lion is a film with incredible strength, gravitas, and a film that is a full-fledged drama that shows the potential of feel-good cinema.

Refusing to be bottled into cliches, Lion is a film that finds power from the very beginning. Set in India, young Saroo (Sunny Pawar) is lost on a train and winds up 1,600 KM away from home. Home, a very small place in rural India, is the polar opposite in terms of language and build than Calcutta, which is where he winds up. Dodging child traffickers and abuse left and right, this sequence not only highlights Saroo's journey, but the journey of other children. As the epilogue describes, 80,000 Indian children go missing each year. This journey to Calcutta experienced by Saroo highlights the abominable conditions of homeless children in India. Heartbreakingly enough, there are a large number of them he encounters who are rounded up by nefarious characters. Even in the orphanage, the treatment is horrendous. However, Saroo's life is changed when he is adopted by John (David Menham) and Sue (Nicole Kidman). An Australian couple, Sue had a vision that she would adopt an Indian child and, sure enough, she turned her vision into a reality with Saroo. In his portrayal of Saroo, Sunny Pawar is brilliant. Obviously, he is adorable. But, he never seems to be acting. This feels like his life and one that he is familiar with, even subconsciously. Pawar cannot be older than five or so, but he is phenomenal in this film and gives a natural performance for a film that demands one. His confusion and authenticity lends the film considerable gravity, but so does the introduction of his adoptive brother Mantosh. Adopted by John and Sue a year after Saroo, Mantosh is broken. Whatever happened to him and whatever he saw has left him shattered internally, constantly hitting himself when he is upset. Though this is a film about Saroo finding his birth parents, weight is given to Mantosh's role in the film. Highlighting just how lucky Saroo was to escape his circumstances unscathed, Mantosh is a sobering adult. He stays away from his parents and Saroo because he knows how bad he is, which is heartbreaking. Divian Ladwa is brilliant in this relatively small role and makes the most of this broken man. The film, after initially showing Saroo getting used to life in Australia, jumps ahead to Saroo as an adult (Dev Patel). Dating Lucy (Rooney Mara), the duo "meet cute", but that is not hard when Rooney Mara is in the film. Together, Patel and Mara have insatiable chemistry and the two work terrifically well together. Rising above the classic cliche of leaving Lucy as just Saroo's girlfriend with no grit of her own, Lion ensures that it is clear Lucy has a life of her own. She has her own emotions, passions, and interests. Suddenly, however, these diverge when Saroo becomes obsessed with finding his birth parents. Though perhaps going on for too long, Saroo's descent into anger, resentment, and panic as he searches fervently on Google Earth for any clue as to where his family could be. He resents himself for not finding them sooner and can only imagine the pain and anguish felt by his mother. The film is incredibly somber in these moments, punctuated by the score by Hauschka and Dustin O'Halloran. Nominated for Best Original Score, the score may be a bit too noticeable at times, but it is brilliantly orchestrated in spite of that concern.

However, the moment we are all waiting for is Saroo finding his birth mother. The moment is chilling. It is one of the most powerful scenes put in a film all year. Yes, it is manipulative. Yes, it is sentimental. But dammit, I almost cried. I had to fight back the tears to be able to still watch. The look on his mother's face, the embrace, her hand running through his hair and on his face, the little peck on the forehead Saroo gives her, UGH. I was in ruins. There is no way to deny this film's power in this moment. It may be manipulative and something out of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition after Ty Pennington shouts, "Move. That. Bus!", but man is it ever effective. It is a sequence that has anticipation, power, and one where director Garth Davis steps back and allows us to feel the full power of the moment. Yet, he is not done making my eyes wage war on the tears.