Walking with a Lion (2022)

Una (Anđelka Prpić) is the most popular television presenter in the country, the author of the show in which she interviews the most famous people from public life in an original way. Bata (Andrija Kuzmanović) is a genius but unestablished film director on the brink of existence. At the request of her best friend, Una interviews the depressed Bata in his dilapidated apartment. The tense conversation takes an unexpected course and ends with a big explosion in which the neighbor is killed and Bata and Una are seriously injured. The investigation into the case that stirred up the public is led by the clumsy Inspector Trišić.

After the big explosion and the accident in which the grandmother was killed and Una was injured, the public and the media condemned Bata in advance. Inspector Trišić brought him to the station for questioning. Una is recovering in a private clinic. Bata's mother, painter Nada, and stepfather Žika hire a lawyer while awaiting trial in remand prison.

Frightened Bata comes to the infamous prison to serve his sentence, where he faces the greatest danger from the cruel Daba. Inspector Trišić watches Bata's old short film "Metamorphoses" and is amazed by its genius. He begins to study the history of film and the directors who inspired Bata. He becomes convinced that Bata inadvertently hid the accident.

The most notorious prisoner, Dab, harasses Bata. But he accidentally slips, injures himself and falls into a coma, and everyone in the prison thinks that Bata fixed him up. Bata accepts the imposed role of a dangerous type in order to survive in a harsh environment. On the other side of the prison walls, Una is frantically trying to return to the path of old glory, but the reins are slipping out of her hands. Inspector Trišić's intuition tells him that Bata is innocent, so he tries to find evidence for it. In prison, after several acts of bravery, the inmates elect Bata as the new boss to mediate all the dirty dealings with the guards. Una rejects Neško's courtship, and Neško finds comfort in Una's biggest rival, Dina, who is making rapid progress.

Bata starts playing a dangerous mafia boss in prison. He gets into a series of dangerous situations, from which he manages to get out by remembering clips from movies that describe similar events. Inspector Trišić has a hard time getting in touch with Una, and despite her refusal and running away from the memory of the event with Bata, he gives her his film "Metamorphoses". After watching the film, Una experiences a transformation. New horizons open up for her and she begins to search for deeper and more meaningful contents. She visits Bata in prison, but he rudely shoos her away.

Neško punishes Una and Dina by assigning the famous author's show "Walking with a Lion". Nada is preparing for a trip to Paris, for a solo exhibition, and hopes to earn enough money to hire top lawyers who would start a new trial. Bata spent a terrible time in prison. Una he visits him again and brings him a gift.

Una and Inspector Trišić team up and start looking for evidence of Bata's innocence together. But the paparazzi and insatiable media filmed them and made an affair about their secret relationship. Trišić barely manages to justify himself to his wife, who is about to leave him. A French millionaire buys all the paintings in Nada's exhibition in Paris, but Nada suddenly dies. Bata in the prison learns the news and reacts violently like James Cagney in "White Glow" and knocks out several guards. His sentence was extended, so he comes up with an idea to escape from prison.

Bata concocts a plan to escape. Due to the changed approach to work, without the slightest superficiality, Una receives a warning before being fired. She visits Bata more and more often and their relationship deepens. Inspector Trišić is looking for evidence of faulty installations in Bata's apartment that led to the explosion. Under the influence of the media and a series of unfortunate circumstances, Milena is convinced that Trišić is cheating on her, so she leaves him and takes the children with her. But because of the alleged affair with Una, his rating among his colleagues is rising. Bata manages to escape from prison, but due to the carelessness of his roommate, he is quickly caught and gets a new extension.

Una often visits Bata and a love is born between them that, despite the physical separation, deepens every day. Una gets fired from television. With Una's help, Trišić manages to find enough evidence to start a new trial. Dangerous Daba wakes up from a coma.

At the repeated trial, it was proven that Bata did not intentionally conceal the accident, and his sentence was drastically reduced. Trišić is jubilant, but his colleagues are disappointed because it turned out that he did not have a relationship with Una after all. The media reported that they were together because they were looking for evidence. Milena and the children return home. Una and Bata are impatiently waiting for the end of their prison sentence, but the cruel Daba, the former head of the prisoners, returns to the prison and prepares his revenge.