Beautiful emotional journey of a lost boy trying to find his way home.

Rating: 9/10 (16 May 2017)

Lion is a strong emotionally driven film that hits around every corner about a five-year-old boy that gets lost in India. I was surprised about how good this movie was from direction, acting, the music score, and the plot, which is based on a true story about Saroo Brierley. This is one well done biographical film about his story, in 1986 when he was five years old and living with his older brother Guddu and younger sister and mother. They steal coal from moving trains to sell at the market to afford milk. Guddu tries to work at these one stop jobs and was supposed to work overnight. Saroo (Sunny Pawar) and Guddu are close as brothers. When Guddu leaves Saroo on a train station bench cause he couldn't stay awake for this job. Saroo not knowing when his brother will return, he hid inside a train and fell asleep. When he woke, the train is moving, not knowing how far away from home the train took him. Saroo is left roaming in the other side of India, were a different language is spoken. With no idea how to get home or find his family. He is left without shelter, coming across homeless kids, and guys that would kidnap the kids for money. Saroo then gets taken in by an orphanage. Were they found a family for him to live with in Australia. John (David Wenham) and Sue (Nicole Kidman) adopted Saroo into their lifestyle. Decades later, Saroo (Dev Patel) taking programs for hotel management. He meets a lovely Lucy (Rooney Mara), who he falls in love with. The one set back that is always preventing from peace is the thought of his real mother worrying. Saroo sets out, from the help of using google earth and retracing his steps on trying to find his hometown in India.
Lion turned out to be a really well film. The direction and cinematography capturing the India settings and the culture lifestyle. Also, the music score also set the mood and tone of the movie. It is a beautiful score and the sense of wonder that it creates. It is a sad emotional story of a journey that Saroo goes through. Even in the final moments of the movie, the scene was emotionally powerful seeing these people reconnect. What I really like about the film as well is the language spoken. Saroo and his brother spoke Hindi throughout the first half of the movie. Hollywood didn't have to tamper the material by having the characters speak English.
Sunny Pawar is a charming talented kid. It is an emotional roller coaster seeing this kid go on the journey of trying to find his home. When it comes to a scene, were he has a bent spoon and going through the motions, pretending to eat soup when he is starving. And mimicking a young guy in a café shop eating soup was very hard to watch. Dev Patel is a great actor, playing an older Saroo and how his inner self is struggling with the thought that his mother is worried. Rooney Mara is a beautiful actress. David Wenham and Nicole Kidman are both great.
Lion is a really good biographical film, which at times may be difficult to watch seeing homeless kids struggle. The journey Saroo goes through is a powerful one and from the final moments in the movie. Should bring tears of joy seeing how everything is resolved. Definitely worth checking out for its story, the acting, and the movie itself is well done.