Lion. A film as magnificent as it's namesake.

Some mild spoilers.

Every year in January we see a huge influx of quality cinema. It's all of course done to make sure certain films are in with a chance of winning awards. It's my favourite time of the year for cinema going too. We are spoilt for choice. Since the first of January we've had Silence, A Monster Calls (Brilliant by the way, go see it if you can), La-la Land, Manchester By The Sea, Jackie, Loving, Hacksaw Ridge and Live By Night. Some were deadly and others were a bit meh but the other day i watched Lion and in my opinion it blew them all out of the water. With a big bastard of a bang.

It's the story of a young Indian boy called Saroo who along with his brother spends his days foraging and ducking and diving to get food to feed himself and his family. They are poor, hungry but somehow still happy. Until the day he gets separated from them all and finds himself 1600 miles away with not a rupee to his name. That's all the story you are going to get.

It's a great beginning, nice and economical, getting us to care about the characters straight away. Which is easily done when you have a super little actor like Sunny Pawar as the main character. He's brilliant, you'll instantly empathise with him and his big wide smile. Downside of this is you'll also instantly be terrified for him when you realise he's an innocent lost in a world full of predators. This is a PG rated film but doesn't sugarcoat the dangers out there for little children. It's upsetting stuff. The tone lightens in the latter half of the film. Sort of. A bit.

The acting across the board is excellent. Sunny Pawar as mentioned already is a little star in the making. Dev Patel fully deserves his Oscar nomination for his acting in the second half when he makes the film his own. Nicole Kidman takes what i thought was going to be a thankless role and turns it into something great, especially with one scene late in the film and Rooney Mara is the same, taking a seemingly one note role and imbuing it with heart. 

Hollywood films about people overcoming insurmountable odds are.......to be honest usually they are a bit sickening. They overload the syrupy stuff and play sad songs on the soundtrack to make sure you feel happy and sad when you are supposed to. They lay it all on thick and the film usually suffers because of it. This film gets it just right. It's not mawkish or sappy or overbearing. By casting correctly and letting the story speak for itself it hits that emotional sweet spot just right. The sad parts will kill you but the happier scenes really feel like they've been earned. But by jaysus do you earn them.

It's a tough film in places and you may leave the cinema with a snotty nose and a pain in your throat but you will be delighted you watched it. I loved it.