Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
After her grandfather's death, 20-year-old Alma decides to go back to her childhood home - a little island in the heart of the majestic Canadian forest. Whilst there, she rescues two helpless cubs: a wolf and a lion. They forge an inseparable bond, but their world soon collapses as the forest ranger discovers the animals and takes them away. The two cub brothers must now embark on a treacherous journey across Canada to be reunited with one another and Alma once more.
The Wolf and the Lion is a charming but fairly conventional family adventure film. Its greatest strength is its stunning cinematography of the Canadian wilderness and the genuinely appealing footage of the animal cubs, which elevates it visually above most films in its genre. The plot follows a well-worn formula of animal separation and reunion with predictable beats and thin human characters. Acting is functional but unremarkable, leaning on the animals to carry emotional weight. The concept of a wolf and lion bonding is mildly appealing but not especially novel within the family-animal-adventure genre. The ending delivers the expected heartwarming resolution expected by audiences of this type of film.