Watching: LION

(2016) In a small village in central India, five-year-old Saroo (a remarkable Sunny Pawar) happily lives with his mother and sister, whom he loves, as well as his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate), whom he idolizes and wants to be like. Wide-eyed and innocent, Saroo can also be stubborn, pushing his brother to take him along to his overnight job ... and soon Saroo is separated from his brother and lost, trapped on an empty express train traveling thousand of miles across the country. Scared and alone, the boy ends up on the urban streets of Calcutta, surviving hunger and kidnappers and worse, until finally drawing the attention of a kindly female social worker who, when her efforts to find his family fail (illiterate and too young, Saroo doesn't know his mother's real name or family surname, and can only pronounce his village's name phonetically), sets up an adoption - and soon Saroo is whisked off to Tasmania where his new mother Sue (Nicole Kidman) and father John (David Wenham) await. But two decades later, the college-aged Saroo (Dev Patel) is haunted by memories of his home, his mother, and the brother who meant the world to him. Family he knows must still be haunted, as well, wondering what happened to him; if he is still even alive. So what starts as an online search becomes a years-long obsession, the adult Saroo giving up the present to find his past - to see his brother and beloved mother again - at all cost. To go home. Based on a true story, Lion was the best film I saw in 2017; a compassionate, heart-tugging, brilliantly (and beautifully) told story of finding where you belong in this world, no matter the odds. With a universally spot-on cast, A-listers like Kidman and Patel step aside to give young Sunny Pawar the film's spotlight all the way; he is the heart of the film, and one look at that kid's soulful gaze will both mend and break your heart, every time. Have tissues handy, lots of them, for this beautifully-rendered masterpiece. (rated PG-13)  10/10 stars