Semi-Spoiler Free Review

When Lambs Become Lions is a documentary by Jon Kasbe, who lived in Kenya before making this. This is the story of Ivory poachers and the park rangers who protect the elephants of Kenya. It focuses on their home life, mostly, and contains some footage of when the soldiers are patrolling, as well as when the hunters are hunting.

It’s a fascinating tale that does not glorify either side of the situation. One lead poacher, dubbed “X” in the documentary, struggles to keep his business going, while the rangers close in, making his thievery more and more difficult to accomplish. Meanwhile, the park rangers suffer through their circumstance, often unpaid, and always under-equipped. Kenya is a poor country, and the citizens struggle to survive on a daily basis.

There were several things that I found amazing about this documentary, aside from what happens in it. First is that the director spent over a year with X before he got him to agree to be filmed for the documentary. The same was true for the rangers that were involved. He had to build up trust that this was not some sort of undercover work for the government. The second, and more astonishing thing is a matter of Kenyan law, and I’m paraphrasing what I remember – If someone is filmed for a documentary, the documentary footage cannot be used against them in any legal matters. That’s completely different from US Law. The third, and more shocking thing is revealed late in the film, and I will not spoil it here. The finale pretty much blew my mind.

If ivory poaching is something of interest to you, I wholeheartedly recommend this documentary. There is very little violence depicted in the film (towards both people and the elephants), but a small fraction of it is implied by events on screen. I was grateful we were spared that.

When Lambs Become Lions opens in LA on Nov. 27th, and NY on Dec. 6th.