

Lion
The search begins
A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
TMDB
8.0/10
7,102 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
View on IMDb
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $12M
- Box office
- $140.3M
- Language
- Bengali
- australia
- based on novel or book
- adoption
- affectation
- biography
- based on true story
- india
- missing child
- long lost relative
- tasmania
- street child
- dramatic
Top billed cast

















Behind the camera
Director
Writers
Produced in
Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for India. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
Gallery












Videos
Release dates
IndiaIN
- TheatricalUA24 Feb 2017
United StatesUS
- PremierePG-13San Diego Film Festival, Special Screening30 Sept 2016
- Theatrical (limited)PG-1325 Nov 2016
- TheatricalPG-136 Jan 2017
- PhysicalPG-1321 Mar 2017
United KingdomGB
- PremiereBFI London Film Festival12 Oct 2016
- TheatricalPG20 Jan 2017
United Arab EmiratesAE
- Theatrical1 Dec 2016
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalPG19 Jan 2017
CanadaCA
- Premiere14AToronto International Film Festival10 Sept 2016
- Theatrical (limited)14AToronto9 Dec 2016
ArgentinaAR
- Theatrical16 Feb 2017
AustriaAT
- Digital / OTT1224 Feb 2017
BrazilBR
- Theatrical1216 Feb 2017
BulgariaBG
- Theatrical17 Feb 2017
ChileCL
- Theatrical23 Feb 2017
ChinaCN
- Theatrical23 Jun 2017
Frequently asked questions
Lion was released on 24 November 2016.
Audience reviews
4- D4/10
djgri
5/1/2017
An interesting true story. Film starts well and ends well. In the middle, there is a rapid acceleration from being a boy to being a man that misses out on a lot of an explanation as to how he ended up being the person he was. Quite boring in the middle of the film, which is a shame since the young actor was excellent.
- R9/10
Reno
6/26/2017
**Lost in India, found in Australia!** Based on the book 'A Long Way Home' that tells the story of a young Indian boy who lost his brother in a railway station in the night and the next morning he woke up thousands kilometers away from home. Not knowing the language or the address and the names of his family, he struggled from various threats in the society. After that he got adopted from an Australian family and …
- F8/10
Filipe Manuel Neto
1/7/2023
**A film of great quality, although marked by the duality of the script and by an excessive emotional appeal.** This film, for me, has one big point for it and one big point against it. The point in its favor is that it is consistently based on a true story, and as far as I can tell it has been relatively faithful to events. The downside is the fact that it is one of those films that constantly appeals to the publ…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
3/16/2025
Though it’s Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman who take top billing, it’s the hugely engaging Sunny Pawar who steals his scenes here as the young Saroo. He’s growing up in rural India with his elder brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) living fairly hand to mouth with their mother (Khushi Solanki) and so the two set off into the city to try to make some cash. Once they arrive, though, the young Saroo is too tired to accompany h…
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