Dev Patel Moves us to Tears in the Trailer of ‘Lion’

Based on the real life of Saroo Brierley, it will show us the journey he took to find his family.

[Photo Credit: Facebook/LionMovie]

There’s no place like home. This phrase comes to life at the heart of Dev Patel’s new movie, “Lion.”

The two-minute preview is enough to reduce audiences to tears as we get a glimpse of Saroo Brierley’s journey to find his birth family. Directed by Garth Davis, “Lion” tells the unbelievable but true story of Brierley, played by Patel, who was separated from his family in Kolkata when he fell asleep on a train which took off and his elder brother was left on the station. The 5-year-old boy was then adopted by a couple in Australia—played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. However, not even an ocean could separate this boy from the memories of his original family.

“I have to find my way back home,” Patel says hauntingly in the trailer. The heartbreaking images that follow are of a young boy searching the crowds for a familiar face to the tortured expressions of Patel, telling his partner, played by Rooney Mara, that he can still hear his brother calling his name.

The real inspiration behind the film first made headlines when real life Brierley made a video through Google, depicting how he used Google Earth to match his memories to places on the map, narrowing down the location of his home in Khandwa. The video titled “Homeward Bound” was posted in 2013 and quickly went viral. He went on to write a book called “A Long Way Home,” which detailed how his journey back to his mother after being separated for 25 years.

Now a big-budget feature film, “Lion” will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10 and is already generating Oscar buzz. From the trailer alone, Patel has received high praise for nailing the Australian accent in what could be his most formidable performance since “Slumdog Millionaire.”

“Lion” will roar into theatres in January 2017. Get your tissues ready.