A Lion Returns ((Serhat Caradee, 2020) Tyler De Nawi, Danny Elacci, Jacqui Purvis, Taffy Hany, Buddy Dannoun, Helen Chebatte, Maha Wilson, Serhat Caradee; After 18 months in Syria, Jamal is back in Sydney and wants to see his terminally ill mother, however, he has to deal with his strong-minded older brother Omar, his wife Heidi and son – but most importantly his unforgiving father.
Critics liked this, but the IMDb audience didn't. I haven't seen it.
Wikipedia:
Erin Free of FilmInk called the film a "volatile, extraordinarily well-crafted treatise on the dangers of extremism, and how the bonds with the ones that you love can bring it undone", a "mini-miracle of local filmmaking" and an "excellent piece of cinema outside of its incredible production history." Free also praised the performances, calling them "uniformly excellent", and wrote that Caradee "displays a resolute command of his material from beginning to end".
Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald rated the film 4/5 stars, and wrote that while the script is "probably too verbose" and largely "predictable", the film's story is "told with such conviction" and the actors "pack" their dialogue with "such a charge that there’s a wealth of family history in every word."
Garry Gillard | New: 18 September, 2023 | Now: 18 September, 2023