The Wolf and the Lion 2022

As Alma Deranquel (character) returns to her childhood home in the remote Canadian wilderness, she’s met with an unexpected inheritance: a lion cub, orphaned by a plane crash that destroyed a circus-bound aircraft. The cub, rescued from its makeshift nest by a bald eagle, becomes the focus of Alma’s compassion, echoing the conservation efforts of her grandfather, who had fought tirelessly against animal mistreatment in circuses. Meanwhile, a female wolf, once befriended by Alma’s grandfather, finds refuge in his cabin with her own pup, fleeing two scientists who seek to capture her for a breeding facility. The lion cub and wolf pup form an unlikely bond, playing together as their mother provides for them.

When Alma departs on a 2-day trip to audition for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the wolf mother disappears, leaving Alma as the sole guardian of the cubs. It’s later revealed that the she-wolf was tranquilized by one of the scientists, who aim to transfer her to a breeding facility for the endangered Canis lupus nyx species. As Alma raises the trio in peace for a year or two, she names the wolf pup Mozart and the lion cub Dreamer, in apparent homage to Ozzy Osbourne’s iconic song. After an accident leaves Alma injured, her Native Canadian godfather Joe must alert authorities to rescue her, forcing the trio to part ways.

Mozart is reunited with his mother at a rescue facility, where zoologists hope he’ll breed with younger females soon. Meanwhile, Dreamer finds himself in the clutches of a lion trainer who’s teaching his son Raphael how to assert dominance over big cats. The methods demonstrated off-camera leave the boy visibly shaken. As Alma recovers from her concussion, she enlists Joe’s help to track down which circus bought Dreamer, all while navigating the complexities of working with her former love interest-turned-forest-ranger, who is also Joe’s bitter ex-girlfriend.

As fate would have it, the traveling circus stumbles upon the wolf breeding facility, permitting Mozart to catch a whiff of his foster brother’s scent. Seizing this opportunity, he digs a tunnel under the mesh-wire fence with stealthy precision, ultimately making his escape that night. Eli, the senior zoologist, is left apologizing to Alma for their earlier misunderstanding, now in dire need of her assistance to track down Mozart. By this point, Mozart has already liberated Dreamer, allowing the two to make a beeline back towards Alma’s island sanctuary.

However, their journey doesn’t go unnoticed, and the authorities soon receive multiple distress calls regarding these two “menacing” animals on the loose. With Raphael’s guidance, Alma and Eli are hot on the trail of Mozart and Dreamer, eventually closing in on them near the nostalgic child-sized log cabin where Alma spent her carefree childhood days.

Raphael’s father makes a bold attempt to reclaim Dreamer at gunpoint, but his son intervenes just as the police SWAT team arrives on the scene. As tensions escalate, Alma leads Mozart and Dreamer through a secret tunnel from the playhouse to a hollow tree, before she and Mozart take to the waters, leaving Dreamer behind to distract their pursuers.

Taut moments later, it becomes clear that Dreamer has successfully outsmarted his would-be captors. The film concludes with Alma delivering an outdoor concert as a benefit for abused captive wild animals, while Mozart and Dreamer frolic together in the nearby woods, their bond stronger than ever.