The Lion at My Back Review (2026 Karlovy Vary IFF)
Stella is not exactly hassle-free. A woman enraged and fierce, who functions at a high pace. Mariama, a shy darling, has recently reached the age of 18 and must now confront the unkind world in a community where few would welcome individuals seeking refuge. The two women cross paths, and bound by a fortunate, mutual need, they form a relationship that houses womanhood, motherhood, and friendship all under one roof.
The Lion at My Back is easily an all-encompassing, bittersweet drama that drives nails into your heart and brings tears to your eyes. Caged birds, makeshift gifts, offensive colleagues, and relentless landlords all ensure we do not miss a single chance to empathize with Stella and Mariama (or just to feel the ache ourselves). The story has many sub-stories, strangely borrowing from a pilot episode, and each carries a new drama in its own right. Interestingly, the background stories of our two protagonists unravel as if in reverse. Along the way, through underwhelming visits to the amusement park and the beach, we meet them both at that lightless point in their lives, that lowest, most vulnerable, and hopeless moment that rendered any turning point seemingly impossible. Frankly, I do not think anyone could be prepared for what we witness when Stella decides to throw herself back into her dark era, somewhere around two-thirds into the film, which up to that point follows all possible conventions, building toward a film that looks like a film. But at this moment, there is such a visual shift, beyond the attempted, bewildered violence, that genuinely shakes you to shock.
There are some grave undercurrents here. From gender exploitation to human smuggling, director Tonia Mishiali, in her sophomore film, holds close contact with the stakes. To a large extent, she speaks from the beating heart of her home country (as also seen in her compatriot’s title, Smaragda: I Got Thick Skin and I Can’t Jump, 2024), Cyprus, a place that has not seen rest, as if all the world’s battles have grown roots here and honed their spikes at the expense of all those who found their way there. Similarly, the two women in The Lion at My Back are firewalking through a minefield of traps and routes. Stella and Mariama embody a navigational system, one that might as well belong to a character in any story: escaping, surviving, fighting, and loving.
This film does something impressively consistent, shaping every scene around a sense of movement, replicating the only way trust can be built: in flux. I happen to be visually lost, for the aesthetics strongly parallel the late 90s (it is not meant to be set in this time, is it?). Yet I was pulled happily back in by some editing choices that compose strong, telling images (and by the way, I wonder if we can ever look at an inflatable dinghy innocently again). But I was mainly left in a fit of lethargy, by how explicitly every bit was conducted through image, composition, and dialogue (which might have been omitted). All things considered, The Lion at My Back is charged and loaded. It’s all just too much for just one picture. (Or is this a pitch for a TV drama?)
★★ 1/2
Premiered at the 2026 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival as part of the Crystal Globe Competition / Dir: Tonia Mishiali / Production: Bark Like a Cat Films, Iris Productions, Avaton Films / Cyprus, Luxembourg, Greece
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