Lion

“This movie explores identity and what it means to be ethnically one thing, but belonging to a different nationality.”

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Title: Lion (2016)
Director: Garth Davis 👨🏼🇦🇺
Writers: Book by Saroo Brierley 👨🏽🇦🇺, screenplay by Luke Davies 👨🏼🇦🇺

Reviewed by Li 👩🏻🇺🇸

Technical: 4/5

Garth Davis’ Lion is a strong film that successfully depicts an incredible story. The pacing isn’t perfect—halfway through, things get slow and overwrought—but it still has a great payoff at the end with an effective and moving climax. Dev Patel delivers a great performances as the lead, Saroo. Overall, it’s an enjoyable film and relatable to anyone with complicated feelings about what “home” means.

Gender: 3/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? NOPE

Women aren’t the focus of what’s mainly a one-man show, but neither are they portrayed poorly. I’ll take off a bit for lack of representation and not passing the simple Bechdel Test, though, which only requires two women exchange words that aren’t about a man.

Race: 5/5

The crux of this movie explores identity and what it means to be racially one thing, but ethnically another. Saroo is an amazing vehicle for us to explore the tension between the two, with all the heart-wrenching torment that comes from having an identity that doesn’t slot neatly into society’s norm.

Mediaversity Grade: B 4.00/5

Lion depicts fascinating insights into the meanings of “identity” and “home.” While it doesn’t go expansive in its inclusion, with women firmly in supporting roles, it doesn’t feel like a glaring issue in this extremely tight and focused narrative about a man on an international hunt to uncover his lost history.