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Director Gilles de Maistre had good intentions at heart bringing an animal activist message to the mainstream with “Mia and the White Lion.” The craft and care it took to capture a portrait of a headstrong young girl and her unconventional friendship with a white lion is astounding, considering the filming spanned a few years so the actress could authentically bond with the animal. This sweetly sentimental feature — aimed squarely at the family demographic, particularly those with small children — will assuredly connect with animal lovers, with one big caveat: There’s a whiplash-inducing reveal that could prove traumatic to some of those same folks.

Ten-year-old Mia Owen (Daniah De Villiers) has recently moved from London to South Africa and is struggling with lots of complicated feelings. Her frustration and angst over this sudden lifestyle change has prevented her from fitting in at her new school, as she gets in fights with classmates and teachers alike.

"I'm going to get you to somewhere safe... and then you'll be free." A new official Us trailer has debuted for the charming adventure Mia and the White Lion, which was first released last year in France under the title Mia et le lion blanc - since it's made by a French filmmaker, though the dialogue is mostly in English. The story is about a young girl from London who moves to Africa with her parents where she befriends a white lion cub. After the lion grows up, she decides to set out on a journey across the South African savanna in search of another land where Charlie can live out his life in freedom. Daniah De Villiers stars as Mia, with a full cast including Mélanie Laurent, Langley Kirkwood, Ryan Mac Lennan, Lionel Newton, Lillian Dube, and Brandon Auret. This was shot at the Welgedacht Reserve in South Africa,...