Lion
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: November 25, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ObserverRex ReedNov 29, 2016
Once in awhile, a movie comes along that is so touching and sincere, without a moment of false emotion or manipulative self-indulgence, that it establishes squatters’ rights and moves into your heart to stay. Read full review
90
New York Daily NewsJordon HoffmanNov 22, 2016
This amazing true story with remarkable performances by Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and newcomer Sunny Pawar has, like the title would suggest, a blend of brute force and elegance. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 16, 2016
A sober and yet profoundly stirring contemplation of family, roots, identity and home, which engrosses throughout the course of its two-hour running time. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 22, 2016
Lion is a beautifully told, uplifting story of courage and determination. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldDec 22, 2016
It’s a mesmerizing story, particularly that vivid first half, told with great economy and few words. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDec 22, 2016
The beauty of Lion is that it explores and allows for the unique possibilities and power of multiple homes, multiple families and multiple selves. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 1, 2016
Lion is moving and inspiring. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaNov 24, 2016
Let’s just say if you are human, there is no way that Lion won’t move you. Read full review
88
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 24, 2016
Unsurprisingly, the finale is manipulative in every way, squeezing out the emotions of the audience. But Lion’s well-plotted narrative and thoughtful characters suck you in so much that the journey there is totally worth it. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamJan 17, 2017
Director Garth Davis’ debut is a touch over-stretched but impossible to resist – a classy crowd-pleaser with an especially magical first half. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinJan 16, 2017
An astonishing true story that’s treated with an admirably light and artistic touch, rather than an overly dramatic heavy hand. Despite a weaker second half, it is ultimately deeply moving. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 23, 2016
Saroo is played dazzlingly by Dev Patel, who gives his richest performance since Mira Nair’s “The Namesake.” Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 13, 2016
The script never lunges for cheap drama by forcing Saroo into a binary choice between mothers, and the most complex beats are about tip-toeing around, often counter-productively, to avoid hurt or betrayal. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 16, 2016
If Saroo’s story seems out-of-this world, the team behind this film have risen to meet the challenge it sets. There may be a sense of inevitability about Saroo’s ultimate destination, but what counts here is the journey. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 26, 2016
By turns sad, frightening, and inspirational, the movie is impeded only by the difficulty of bridging the 25-year span between segments and accepting the older lead (Dev Patel) as a replacement for his younger self (Sunny Pawar). Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryDec 23, 2016
Lion is a complex movie, with its profound themes of home and identity, and its tonally disparate halves. A smartly understated approach to Brierley’s story holds it all together. Sometimes the truth alone is enough. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniDec 22, 2016
Child actor Pawar is extraordinary as Saroo during his terrifying odyssey, and Davis portrays the streets of Calcutta, teeming with homeless children and adults, as if they were one of the rings of hell from "Dante's Inferno." Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonDec 21, 2016
Director Garth Davis gets to the heart of the drama without slipping into sentimentality. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 20, 2016
Lion can't avoid seeming lesser in the second half after Davis' mesmeric first but it's solid storytelling nonetheless. Bring the Kleenex. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerDec 8, 2016
First-time Australian director Garth Davis offers sweeping cinematic shots, with a soundtrack that is pleasingly epic, but the second act is a bit skimpy, script-wise. Read full review
75
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonDec 8, 2016
If you’re looking for a reinvention of the biopic formula, there are plenty of films this season to set you up. If you think there’s still room for the traditional ‘true-story’ drama, Lion proves these stories still have a little life left in them. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandDec 8, 2016
Where the first half of the film had power and sweep, the second half is a bunch of Post-it notes. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithNov 26, 2016
This is a true story, and at times a gut-wrenching one, even if it necessarily sugarcoats some aspects of the plight of lost children. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 22, 2016
The young star, maturing nicely past the boyish enthusiasm he showed in "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Marigold Hotel" films, enters a new phase of his career with fierce commitment. Lion is one from the heart. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichNov 21, 2016
Where Saroo goes and what he finds there left me in tears, but you feel that a complicated true story has been airbrushed into a postmodern legend. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnSep 16, 2016
Lion, the first feature directed by Garth Davis, sufficiently realizes the emotional arc built into Brieley’s experience. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 27, 2017
Davis is not above manipulating the audience at the end of the film, but so what? It works. And that closing credit, man. Some things are worth waiting for. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 24, 2016
Once Lion's can't-miss conclusion hovers into view, the film's periodic over-dramatization matters less. A story like this is finally impossible to mess up, and pretending otherwise is beside the point. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovDec 22, 2016
It’s a tonally imperfect film that’s nonetheless ideal for holiday viewing, a respite from "Rogue One" perhaps, or simply an exciting, old-school explorer’s tale well told (for the most part). Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubEsther ZuckermanNov 23, 2016
In trying to tell the whole of this nearly implausible tale, the film can’t figure out whether it’s more invested in young Saroo’s harrowing journey or older Saroo’s feeling of displacement. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 21, 2016
Lion is shameless and heartfelt and you’ll probably have a good, happy cry at the end. When a story pushes buttons so deeply wired into our consciousness...craft seems almost beside the point. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineMatt BrennanNov 23, 2016
Lion's faults of structure and pacing might limit its power, but in stretches it still roars. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew AndersonJan 19, 2017
Its lasting resonance and wider humanitarian message is diluted by a second half that drags it down. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlNov 24, 2016
Commercial filmmaking still fumbles interiority and moral complexity. So it’s fortunate for the filmmakers that Brierley's book also is thick with the kinds of things that crowdpleasers ace. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottNov 24, 2016
As a purely emotional experience it succeeds without feeling too manipulative or maudlin. I mean, it is manipulative and maudlin, but in a way that seems fair and transparent. Still, it isn’t quite satisfying. Read full review
60
TimeStephanie ZacharekNov 23, 2016
By the time Lion has really begun, it already seems half over. That’s not to say the picture isn’t satisfying in a straight-to-the-gut way. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 16, 2016
Thanks largely to an affecting performance from newcomer Sunny Pawar, the first act is horribly effective. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounSep 16, 2016
There’s plenty of warmth and compassion here, and the true story is a belter, but this ‘Lion’ doesn’t quite roar. Read full review
58
The Film StageJordan RuimySep 16, 2016
If the first half is an indelible treat and gives one high hopes that a film delicately placed in the awards season will in fact meet its steep expectations, the second half is troublesome and falls flat. Read full review
50
TheWrapSam AdamsNov 24, 2016
It’s the kind of movie that wouldn’t exist without awards, and makes a compelling argument for phasing them out altogether. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoNov 24, 2016
Lion may be a little too Oscar-bait-y, but it's not without loud emotional roars. Read full review
50
SlateForrest WickmanNov 23, 2016
Lion goes again and again where you expect it to, delivering little more than the awards-season equivalent of "Homeward Bound." Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 21, 2016
As is proved by documentary footage at the end, Garth Davis’s film is based on a true story; though wrenching, there is barely enough of it to fill the dramatic space, and the second half is a slow and muted affair after the Dickensian punch of the first. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthSep 16, 2016
While Lion isn’t the kind of drama that demands risky storytelling, it is one that has within it a whole world of emotional topography that is disappointingly scrolled over instead of mapped out. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 16, 2016
Fortunately for Davis, he’s got a terrific cast, chief among them the pair of charismatic actors who split the lead role. Read full review
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