What age is The Wolf and the Lion (Le Loup et le Lion) appropriate for?

8 alone, 7 with a parent; 8 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is The Wolf and the Lion (Le Loup et le Lion) not recommended under 8?

What's in it: our reading; a grandfather buried in the very first scene; the two cubs taken away, a circus that trains by fear; growls and roars through the whole film; a hunt with rifles and one dart too many; a happy ending that leaves a question. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

The Wolf and the Lion (Le Loup et le Lion): what age is it for? 8 alone, 7 with a parent

8 alone, 7 with a parent.

Movie · 2021 · 1 h 39 · family, adventure, drama

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

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not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralone

The official US rating is PG; we never go below it, and here we go above: 8. Alone from 8; from 7, with an adult or by talking about it afterwards.

Official US rating: PG; zinema says 8. In France, zinema would say 8.

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What it's about

After her grandfather's death, 20-year-old Alma decides to go back to her childhood home - a little island in the heart of the majestic Canadian forest. Whilst there, she rescues two helpless cubs: a wolf and a lion. They forge an inseparable bond, but their world soon collapses as the forest ranger discovers the animals and takes them away. The two cub brothers must now embark on a treacherous journey across Canada to be reunited with one another and Alma once more.

Why 8

Our readingThe loudest thing you hear is the growling and roaring of the wolf and the lion, the film's heroes, not a monster. What remains weighs little: a grandfather buried in the first scene, two cubs taken away, a circus cruel in words. At 8 alone, at 7 with an adult.
reading
A grandfather buried in the very first sceneThe film opens on the burial of Alma's grandfather at the foot of a tree, and on what she says under her breath: her parents first, now him, she has no one left. The grief comes back through a tape he recorded for her. A six-year-old feels it without having the words.
shown
The two cubs taken away, a circus that trains by fearOne day the animals are darted and driven off, the wolf to a center, the lion to a circus. There, a trainer explains he will be calmed with injections and have his claws removed, 'fear is the only way'. Nothing bloody, but cruelty spoken plainly to a child who already loves these two.
shown
Growls and roars through the whole filmThe wolf and the lion grow up on screen and so do their voices: growls, roars, play fights in the dark. They are the heroes, not monsters, but a very young child may jump at the roars and the night scenes.
shown
A hunt with rifles and one dart too manyWhen the lion escapes, armed men go looking for him, there is talk of putting him down, and an overdosed syringe nearly kills him. A gunshot in the distance, a young woman hurt at the ankle in the chase; the violence stays off screen.
shown
A happy ending that leaves a questionAll ends well, then a voice reminds us that these two love each other like brothers because they were taken from their mothers, and that a wolf and a lion do not belong in a house. A conversation to have.

What the movie brings

Two brothers nothing destined to meet: a wolf cub and a lion cub raised together, who protect each other when they are separated.
Real animals, filmed up close for months, no CGI: you watch a wolf and a lion grow up before your eyes.
What we owe a wild animal: love is not enough, you also have to know when to let it go, and the film says so without preaching.

Watching it together

Before

The opening is about a grandfather's death: if your child has lost someone recently, stay close for the first five minutes. After the film, look up the making-of together: the wolf and the lion are real animals, raised together for the film.

After

at 8 and up

Was Alma right to keep the wolf cub and the lion cub at home, or should she have handed them over right away?

See the facts

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A zinema reading from September 12, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made