Lion

[fillumboy2]

What an incredible story.

This is a real three-hankie film. Beautifully told.

Make sure you stay for the end credits.

[liuchongscut]

I like the film, it's really touching, showing a boy who got lost when he was young, trying to find him mother after 25 years adopted by another couple and finally succeed.

[The Sparrow]

Watched this again today. It was still incredibly moving despite, in fact probably because I knew the outcome.
A remarkable story about remarkable people. My second favourite film of the year, half a point behind Hidden Figures.

[norrie]

Fantastic film. Really enjoyed it and definitely recommended to all my friends.

[D-Fens]

I had the same experience watching this as most of you did but on reflection I think it's really flawed.

The child abandonment/homelessness is still a huge issue but the movie is not really about that. It takes place in that world but it doesn't really say what and why it's happening and it's not like we're spoilt for movies on this theme. When the children are taken in the train station for example it's not really clear why, we just see it through the main character. So the movie sags when we also just see him looking at maps for half an hour.

I wonder if it couldn't really be about child neglect and India's failings because then we wouldn't get

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a heart-warming Hollywood reunion.

The adopted brother typifies the problem. He's introduced, he's clearly troubled but there's not much explanation and then his story just ends with no resolution?

[The Sparrow]

But we're seeing it from Saroo's flawed recollection. He wouldn't know about any of the issues he mentions.

They touch on

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child abuse

[D-Fens]

You're right but it didn't feel like it was a Saroo's-eye-view throughout the movie.

It felt like a regular movie about Saroo with some great scenes that absolutely worked and then a really important issue just tacked on the end.

For me his girlfriend or Google map issues could have been shortened to spend some time on the bigger issue maybe via the adopted brother who obviously went on a different journey.

[The Sparrow]

You're right but it didn't feel like it was a Saroo's-eye-view throughout the movie.

It felt like a regular movie about Saroo with some great scenes that absolutely worked and then a really important issue just tacked on the end.

For me his girlfriend or Google map issues could have been shortened to spend some time on the bigger issue maybe via the adopted brother who obviously went on a different journey.

I always saw it as his story,maybe because I knew it was based on his own book. For me, the film is about his strength and determination and that of his birth mother in addition to his adopted parents who were so generous in how they handled it all.

His adopted brother would have his own story surely.

The girlfriend is an amalgamation of girls and not just the one shown. As for the Google maps side, (and this is only my own theory) because they were instrumental in supplying the maps that were available at the time, they may well have had it written into the contract that they got a specific amount of airtime. Having said that, I felt it showed just how much work he put into finding the correct village as his own memories came back to him.

Without the tech, he would never have found the village and his mum and sister. It was vital to his search.

[D-Fens]

Do you not think the birth mother was at fault?

There was room for the adopted brothers story in this movie, especially as we meet a youger troubled child at the start (is it the same guy?) he could take a less glamourous path through the system and then use Bing to find lots of soft furnishings. Just for some contrast.

[The Sparrow]

Do you not think the birth mother was at fault?

There was room for the adopted brothers story in this movie, especially as we meet a youger troubled child at the start (is it the same guy?) he could take a less glamourous path through the system and then use Bing to find lots of soft furnishings. Just for some contrast.

LOL at the soft furnishings.

The poor birth mother didn't really have a choice, she had to work, poor love.

My immediate thought when the two boys left that night, was nooooooooooooo, you can't leave a baby alone all night!