The Oscar-nominated film Lion was the first movie I saw at an actual cinema in five years.
If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil. But I will say the following…
By the final five minutes, the entire cinema – men, women, children – were overflowing with emotion; sobbing tears of elation and profound pain.
Despite the very positive ending however, there are parts of the film that are left completely unresolved; loose ends that couldn’t be brought to a happy cinematic conclusion simply because it would be a lie.
One of those stories is that of Mantosh – the other child adopted by Sue and John Brierley (along with the film’s protagonist, Saroo) whose atrocious experience in Indian orphanages has left him battling severe mental illness.
The film didn’t tie a bow around his story. Because according to Sue Brierley, his story is still unfolding.
Listen: Sue Brierley opens up to Mia Freedman about her and her husband’s struggles with their other adopted son, Mantosh. (Post continues after audio…)
Lion tells the true story of Saroo Brierley, who was accidentally separated from his family as a toddler in the tiny Indian town of Ganesh Talai, and then adopted by a couple in Tasmania.
He didn’t know the name of his home town; didn’t know where it was; and didn’t know how to get back.
Top Comments
I am an adoptive mother of two. My husband and I raised them since they were babes, and of course, I love them as my own with all my heart. I am always surprised about the judgmental reactions people have about adoption - there is still so much stigma attached. Sue touches on that stigma when she talks about how adoptions went in the 70's and perhaps that is where the negativity stems. We desperately need candid conversation about adoption. Thank you for beginning one. All the best to Sue and her beautiful "boys"! Martha