Young Mia's life gets turned upside down when her family decides to leave London to manage a lion farm in South Africa. When a beautiful white lion named Charlie is born, the 10-year-old finds happiness once again as she develops a special bond with the growing cub. When Mia uncovers a secret that puts Charlie in danger, she sets out on an incredible journey across the wild plains to find a sanctuary for her beloved friend.
Out in New Zealand cinemas right now, and with surprisingly minimal marketing prior to its release is Mia and the White Lion. A mature conservationist's perspective on a common movie story (think along the lines of Okja, the Free Willy franchise, Shiloh, and Hands Off Mississippi). Based on a true story, Mia and the White Lion takes a look at South Africa's a specific breed of lion farms.
It is really quite difficult to talk about the direction of the film without spoiling the later acts, so I will focus on the earlier acts. What is quite interesting about the film, is that the white lion in the film that we observe in the film is actually the same lion. The four-month-old and the three-year-old white lion are both the same animal (portrayed by the animal-actor, Thor). This is achieved by selectively shooting the film across several years. It's a great decision in that we do get to watch as the main protagonist Mia (portrayed by Daniah De Villiers) bonds with the animal more and more over time. It also means that the film doesn't have to rely on CGI.
The downside of this decision, however, is that this sporadic linear filming process doesn't exactly allow much flexibility for reshoots, and many of the actors have trouble maintaining a consistent personality for their character over time, creating a bit of an inconsistent tone that can be jarring as the time skips forward. Overall, the film was very well planned, however, and from a narrative standpoint, the story is quite straightforward and to the point.
Where the film is lacking, is in its characters. Mia's father John (portrayed by Langley Kirkwood) never has his motivations explained, which makes it that much harder to empathise with any difficult decisions that he has to make. The antagonist has a limited role in the film beyond turning up to antagonise our protagonists from time to time leering at John's wife and throwing his greasy ponytail around. All other supporting cast have minimal significance, and that is made clear with their oft-clunky dialogue. There is a nice relationship between Mia and her brother which does provide a bit of depth character-wise.
There are some nice visuals, with a strong blue/gold colour palette Everything stands out against that highly saturated blue sky, but does blend and disappear at the ground level amongst other similarly-coloured pieces. There are many wild animals on display, from lions, lionesses, and cubs, to elephants, zebras, and hyenas, which will no doubt impress any child.
Do be aware that the film does have some pretty horrendous parenting, with no boundaries or control over the child. In a film where the child is constantly entering lion enclosures, putting herself in harm's way, the danger is never truly conveyed. Everything is played off as if there is no danger at all of the wild carnivore attacking (considering Thor belongs to Kevin Rene Richardson, known as "The Lion Whisperer", is a self-taught sanctuary owner; a sanctuary where a woman was mauled to death last year by one of the lions he was talking for a walk). While the film is targeted at children, the danger of wild animals may need to be reinstated afterwards.
Mia and the White Lion is an okay film. It brings up an aspect of lions in captivity that many children would not be aware of, but it only goes skin-deep. Without going further into the father's motivations or his relationship with the antagonist, the audience is being led down a path blindfolded. The film does look nice, and it's nice to see children taking an interest in the natural world, but there are a few dark turns in the narrative that parents need to be wary of. Ultimately, it's a family film with some content that is decidedly too dark for all of the family.
A simple premise that would appeal more towards the young ones, but includes mature subject matter that they would not be able to watch.