Lion is an emotionally driven true story about a young man who is accidentally pulled away from his family by a train in India. Saroo, initially played by Sunny Pawar, is only five years old and ends up far away from his family with little information to tell the few people who will stop and listen to him. The people in Calcutta, now called Kolkata, primarily speak Bengali, but Saroo speaks Hindi. This situation couldn’t look more hopeless, and the fact that it’s based on the true story of Saroo Brierley and his book “A Long Way Home” makes it all the more compelling.
Lion is a story that should be seen
At the same time, the scenes with the young, well cast Saroo do feel like the drag on quite a bit. It’s deliberately paced, but the moments only seem to remind the viewer that his situation is dire, but never add much new information. Saroo is adopted by John (David Wenham) and Sue (Nicole Kidman) Brierley, an Australian family, and moves away from his homeland and the probability of ever finding his mum.
It’s in the second half of the film that Dev Patel and the grown up Saroo take over. It’s twenty years after being, and Saroo is about to begin classes. We see that Saroo has had a pretty great life and been a great son to his foster family. They are proud of him and his accomplishments and he meets his love interest, Lucy (Rooney Mara), at his hotel management training classes. It is also where he sees Jalebi, a food item he wanted as a child in India, that triggers the longing to find his mum and brother, Guddu (Abhishek Bharate).
This desire and hopelessness of the likelihood of finding where he came from sends Saroo into a depression. He feels guilt for wanting to find his birth mother as he is grateful for the parents who raised him. Yet, he can escape the desire and Dev Patel’s portrayal of this inner turmoil is superb. This was where the film really pulled the audience in and hit the emotional beats quite well. Kidman really shines during these moments and there is a conversation that brought on the tears.
Final thoughts
Lion is a beautiful story that also shows a major problem with child welfare in India. There are many children besides Saroo who are shown homeless and often helpless. There is a scene where it appears men are grabbing these children off the streets with methods that don’t imply good intentions. Saroo’s story is compelling and eye-opening to a bigger problem. Lion earns the Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy rating.
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