Review of Lion (2016) by Joshua S — 27 Feb 2017

Lion is the real-life story of an impoverished Indian child who is separated from his brother far from home, finds himself on the streets of Calcutta, and is adopted by an affluent Australian family. He is raised in their household and after becoming a young adult he endeavors to retrace his way back home to his village and his original family.

Lion is a pretty straightforward and unpretentious treatise on family, identity, and belonging. The protagonist (played excellently by both child actor Sunny Pawar and veteran Dev Patel) is a child of two worlds and finds that even as a fully-grown and educated man, he is still a scared, lonely boy on the run.

There are excellent supporting performances from the likes of Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, and Rooney Mara, and the film makes notable use of language and silent isolation to tell its story. Lion meanders on a bit in the middle, much like its dejected main character, but it's bookended by truly strong and emotionally gripping first and third acts.

I personally found it superior to the once celebrated Slumdog Millionaire (the OTHER movie about Indian poverty starring Dev Patel) as it trades in that film's fantastic whimsy for a realistic and earnest tone.

This is movie that few people have seen so far and I would really recommend it as a rental or download. The bittersweet and realistic ending is worth the effort.