Hitting the Digital Download and Video Trail from late July 2019 comes Jason Wingard‘s multi-cultural comedy EATEN BY LIONS.
Directed by Jason Wingard from a screenplay co-written with David Issac, EATEN BY LIONS tells of brothers Omar (Antonio Aakeel) and Pete (Jack Carroll) as they reflect on the death of their Gran (Stephanie Fayerman)
The pair are clearly your classic sibling rivals, pumped up by Pete’s physical problems, with the aid of a walking frame, which eat into Omar’s subconscious, not helped either by two adopted parents who are determined to make Omar less important than Pete in their list of priorities.
Faced with a life-long sadness, Omar decides to take action, partly based on the encouragement of his Gran, to find his biological father thanks to a Tarot reader he meets with Pete in a booth in Blackpool when the duo decide to head off from their home-town of Bradford.
Before long, though, they lose their belongings (though salvaging Pete’s frame in the chaos) and have to take refuge in the hotel of a girl, Amy (Sarah Hoare), whom Omar meets via an ice-cream van, despite some initial resistance from her Uncle Ray (Johnny Vegas), who runs the hotel.
They make their way to the address of Omar’s apparent biological father, Malik Chowdhury (Nitin Ganatra), who denies it, but after further investigation discovers that he is the son of his brother Irfan (Asim Chaudhry). An engagement party is happening – and it looks like there may be two extra guests at one of the tables at the Reception…
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM and EAST IS EAST have certainly paved the way for EATEN BY LIONS and there is much to appreciate and enjoy in this film. In terms of flying the flag for diversity, it does tick all the boxes, but refreshingly it doesn’t resort to stereotypical portrayals, celebrating Asian and Muslim culture at its finest whilst maintaining the very Northern British essence that made EAST IS EAST such a cross-over critical and commercial winner.
There’s a gentle charm from the lead duo of Aakeel and Carroll, who have the right blend of youthful naivety and vulnerable charm and are almost upstaged by Natalie Davies as the seemingly mute Parveen, who has her eye on the wet-eared Pete. Johnny Vegas is passable as the bloated hotel landlord and allows the rest of the cast to take centre stage.
A competent mix of humour and sentiment with just the right balance of both will certainly give EATEN BY LIONS the right appeal in the home entertainment market.
To pre-order via iTunes, click on the link here and you can also pre-order the movie via Amazon.Â
