Early life experiences of family play a role in individual identity formation through the teaching of values, attitudes, and beliefs as well as the degree of trust we have in others.In the film, Lion the protagonist Saroo’s early life belonging to a loving family living in poverty in rural India teaches him how to be compassionate and trusting of others.In the scene sequences of Saroo at home with his birth family, compassion is show through body language when Saroo offers his milk to his mother. This scene has the camera zoom in to a medium close-up to reveal Saroo’s expression when he looks down once his mother has rejected his generous offer. These film techniques give the audience not only the impression of Saroo being compassionate to his loved ones despite there not being enough food to share but also conveys the sacrifice Saroo’s mother is prepared to make for her son. The motif of food and eating with others is a symbolic feature throughout the film. It is through food that families show affection and express their love and care for one another. Food symbolises communion, family and culture and is therefore important to the formation of identity. The narrative technique of juxtapositioning scenes displaying the close bonds Saroo has with his brother, Guddu, and their mother with scenes of Saroo abandoned at Calcutta station makes the separation and loss of family more painful and traumatic. In a later scene when Saroo is adapting to his life on the streets of Calcutta we see Saroo walking alone and being approached by a woman who speaks his dialect. Language connects these two people and this connection to his home and family means Saroo is too trusting of this woman and as a result is nearly child trafficked. The experiences and relationships Saroo has in his early life form his identity as a caring, compassionate and trusting person and convey for audiences the significant influence of family on shaping identity.