"Mia et le lion blanc" is a French/German/South African co-production that is despite the French title a mostly English-language movie. The director is Gilles de Maistre and he was also partially in charge of the script of this 95-minute movie together with his wife Prune. A very experienced French filmmaker, even if mostly for the small screen recently, I must say I expected better quality here to be honest. Maybe French film buffs will recognize more familiar faces, but honestly the only one I knew was Melanie Laurent and I find it a bit sad she went from working with Tarantino to this. It is called a kids, more like a family movie, but to be honest, this is not a movie I would want my children to see. The first half is still somewhat fine, but the longer it goes the more absurd it becomes. Early on, they included a story about a girl living in South Africa with her parents and brother and she preferred to stay in London with her friends. That was okay. They gave it the right amount of elaboration until the homesickness vanishes and we see her clikc away the Skype call from her buddy. Also the character introduction to everybody wasn't as bad like with the girl really liking the lion cub, but not wanting anybody to see how she assimilates. There is one major weakness thhough, namely the spot in which the lions were held. Even if this film had been about the father selling them to honorable men, this was a joke. You can't keep huge predators in small areas like these whil saying you are a good person and treat them right as the film wanted to convince us. Then afterward, it all goes south and also not too slowly. The story line about how the girl is really close with the lion and cannot let go of his proximity felt as expected as it was shallow and predictable with these scenes of the lion scratching a tourist or the cringeworthy scene when the brother is slightly injured. Actually, I did feel kinda sorry for the brother, but for another reason, namely how he had r