Graceful nature story bisected by spoon-fed theologism

Rating: 7/10 (22 June 2018)

An American survival drama. An epic journey of adventure and discovery layered with messages about the true nature of God and storytelling, told in a fabulist style.
Very life-like special effects are used to good effect - critical in terms of telling a story about a young man and a connection with a fearsome Bengal tiger.
The film borders on brilliance because of the skilful storytelling at sea and marvellous cinematography. Illusion must be tightly linked to meaning and truth. Pleasingly, the special effects meet this criteria. Unfortunately, the film's narrative does not. The backstory about a writer who has writer's block serves as bathos, worsened by a self-important dialogue which produces some stilted acting at times. As a fairytale, it keeps nature 'red in tooth and claw' which is a refreshing aspect. Flash-forwards spoilt the tension created by Suraj Sharma's lead performance which was enchanting. All in all, it's a very good film. Its false note is a relentless articulation of thematic aims which failed to create enough subtext.