Heart Breaking

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2017)

From the grinding poverty of Calcutta to the serenity of Tasmania, Australia, Lion takes the audience on a tour of the world culture as well as I have ever seen. Dev Patel(Slumdog Millionaire) is the star here, as a thirty year old man haunted by his past as a five year old street orphan searching for his mother. It begins with the little boy riding a train to Calcutta and winding up at a prison like shelter surrounded by other orphans. Saroo (Patel), as the child, has the good luck of being adopted by a loving Australian couple. Nicole Kidman is excellent as his mother and Rooney Mara is also good as his American girlfriend. The story is heart wrenching with a cast that includes a few very young kids who are nothing short of amazing. Lion may well be the best film of 2016.