Directed by Garth Davis, the 2016 drama Lion is based on the true story of young Indian boy Saroo Brierley separated from his family.
Lost and ending up in an orphanage, Saroo was adopted by a caring Australian family. Twenty-five years later, the adult Saroo leaves his Australia and returns to India on a quest to find his biological family.
Luke Davies wrote the screenplay based on Saroo’s autobiographical book A Long Way Home which was first published in 2013.
Young Saroo is played by Sunny Pawar who critics praised while older Saroo is played by British actor Dev Patel who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as was Nicole Kidman for Best Supporting Actress. Kidman played Sue Brierley, Saroo’s adoptive mother.
Lion also stars David Wenham as John Brierley, Saroo’s adoptive father and Rooney Mara as Lucy, Saroo’s girlfriend.
See a sampling of Lion reviews below.
JUDGEMENT
“Be prepared to cry — a lot — at this wonderfully cast tearjerker about a man who searched for his birth family across a continent, with only decades-old memories to guide him. Director Garth Davis’ adaptation of Brierley’s memoir starts off strong, with the charming, big-eyed Pawar playing adorable young Saroo. Audiences will audibly gasp at the circumstances that lead to his separation from his family, and there will be (many) tears as he narrowly escapes the grips of people who would surely do him harm.” Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media
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“Even if you haven’t read Saroo Brierley’s autobiography A Long Way Home, it doesn’t hurt to know how the story ends or the details of his life. Lion is more of an emotional odyssey than a plot-driven film, and Davis (working with Luke Davies’ script) unfussily halves the running time between child and adult Saroo. Thankfully lacking a spoon-feeding voice-over or lazy framing device, his tale is allowed to unfurl naturally and gradually, experience by experience, so you feel each moment as directly and keenly as possible. Dan Jolin, empireonline.com
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“The film is structured in two halves. The first — and most successful —follows Saroo, at age five, in India. Saroo is played by Sunny Pawar, who is one of those kids — found after a massive casting process in India — who just nails it. He’s incredible, traversing a mostly dialogue-free hour without missing a single beat. Every shot he’s in contains emotional truth and credibility, but — like all great actors! — there’s a second, underlying layer going on, in which he deftly adds degrees of comic grace. It’s astonishing. There is one wordless close-up that took my breath away, before I practically started chanting, ‘Give him the Oscar, now!’” Philip Clark, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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“What is truly amazing is that the lion’s share of the acting during this early stage is by an untrained newcomer, Mumbai native Sunny Pawar, who won the part after thousands of children were screen-tested. The kid is a natural, equal parts waif and rascal with an expressive face that perfectly reflects his state of mind from scene to scene while often not saying word. Nothing against Patel, who has grown immensely as a performer, but without the groundwork laid by little Sunny, Lion’s onscreen roar would definitely be more than a bit muted.” Susan Wloszczyna, rogerebert.com
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“A tremendously moving performance from Dev Patel is the resilient soul of Lion, the incredible true story of Saroo Brierley and his tenacious quest to find the family from whom he was separated 25 years earlier. But the role is made even more affecting by its through line from the equally indelible work of Sunny Pawar, the remarkable young actor who plays him at age five in the film’s wrenching opening chapter. Garth Davis, who comes from a background in commercials and co-directed the lauded drama series Top of the Lake with Jane Campion, has chosen wisely for his first feature project.” David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
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“Patel has a maddening tendency to overdo every brand of emotion, wearing his heart all the way up both sleeves. But here he reins it in, acting with subtlety and sensitivity as his character’s natural sunniness is supplanted by emotional turmoil. Saroo is balanced and grounded — in stark contrast to his adopted brother, Mantosh (Divian Ladwar), another Indian orphanage boy — until the search for his biological family becomes an obsession that begins to destabilise him. This is the point at which the film’s other stand-out performance starts to blossom. Nicole Kidman is quite marvelous as Saroo’s adoptive mother, Sue. It is not always easy to play unalloyed goodness, but Kidman does it brilliantly.” Brian Viner, The Daily Mail
