Based on true events, “A Mosquito in the Ear” is the kind of adoption story you don’t see very often because it doesn’t turn the experience into an easy, feel-good drama. Instead, it leans into how messy, painful, and emotionally exhausting it can be for everyone involved. The film follows Andrew (Jake Lacy) and Daniela (Nazanin Boniadi) as they travel to India to bring home their newly adopted four-year-old daughter Sarvari (Ruhi Pal), only to discover she has no intention of leaving the orphanage she’s always known as home.
What I appreciated most is that the movie never treats the couple as heroic rescuers. There’s no “white savior” angle here. Instead, it presents the adoption as a collision between two completely different worlds where everyone has to adjust, make mistakes, and learn from them. Andrew and Daniela come into the process with good intentions, but they’re also unprepared for the cultural and language barriers they’ll face. The film doesn’t let them off the hook for that.
The origin of the title is clever as well. To Sarvari, hearing English all around her is like having a mosquito constantly buzzing in her ear, an irritating, inescapable sound she can’t understand. It’s such a simple metaphor, but it perfectly captures the isolation and fear she feels as strangers expect her to abandon the only home, language, and community she’s has ever known. The film does a great job reminding you that adoption isn’t just about gaining a family, but it’s also about profound loss for the child being adopted.
The story is very much told through the perspective of the American parents, however. I actually think that works for what director Nicola Rinciari is trying to do since it offers an honest look at the uncertainty, frustration, and emotional strain adoptive parents experience. Still, I couldn’t help wishing we spent more time inside Sarvari’s emotional world. Her trauma is the emotional center of the story but because we stay with Andrew and Daniela so often, her perspective sometimes feels too distant.
The pacing also stumbles in the middle. There’s a lengthy stretch where the couple is running around India searching for Sarvari after she disappears, which feels like a lot of unnecessary filler. While it reinforces how chaotic the situation has become, it goes on longer than it needs to. It’s the one section where the film starts to feel repetitive instead of emotionally revealing.
Even with those flaws, I found “A Mosquito in the Ear” surprisingly enjoyable. Its grounded performances and understated storytelling make the emotions feel genuine rather than manufactured, and it never romanticizes international adoption as a simple happy ending. Instead, it argues that becoming a family is often an uncomfortable process built on patience, humility, and trust, not instant love.
I think adoptive parents (especially those who have gone through international adoption) will find a lot here that feels honest and relatable, but even if you haven’t, it’s a thoughtful reminder that every new beginning comes with someone else’s goodbye.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 