From the soundtrack for the motion picture film "Lion".

Factoids & Trivia

It is officially presented as a lyric video. Released on January 3, 2017, the clip runs for roughly four minutes but is staged more like a narrative short than a conventional text-based lyric video.

The video was directed by Lior Molcho, who also received the writing credit. Production was handled by Chisel Pixel Productions, with Chen Biton as producer and Danit Sigler as cinematographer.

Prymrr plays the young lost girl. At the time, she was an emerging dancer, actress, and rapper. Her role in the video became one of her best-known early screen appearances and helped introduce her to a wider audience.

The video was initially mistaken for another Maddie Ziegler collaboration. Sia’s familiar black-and-blonde wig and faceless characters led several early reports to identify the child as Ziegler. Later coverage clarified that the young performer was Prymrr.

The visual concept echoes the story of Lion. The film follows Saroo, who becomes separated from his family after falling asleep on a train as a child and later searches for his birth family. In the video, two children are separated in a deserted railway setting and try to find one another.

Trains are the central visual motif. The children move through an abandoned station or rail yard, climb over trains, and eventually follow the tracks away from the eerie industrial setting.

The children’s faces are completely concealed. They wear black, featureless masks or coverings topped with Sia’s signature two-tone wigs. The device continues Sia’s recurring use of obscured faces and surrogate performers rather than placing herself at the center of the image.

The lyrics appear inside the environment. Instead of being limited to standard graphic overlays, lines from the song are presented as if they have been painted or spray-painted onto train cars, tracks, walls, and other parts of the rail yard.

The plot follows a simple “lost, found, escape” structure. The children search separately during the first part of the clip, reunite later, and then leave the station together—visually reinforcing the song’s repeated promise to “find my way home.”

The video’s apparent horror atmosphere is deliberate but ultimately hopeful. Early scenes emphasize darkness, isolation, masks, and empty machinery; the ending shifts toward reunion and movement into the open night. Contemporary coverage often described the clip as creepy or haunting while also emphasizing its hopeful message. (stereogum.com)

“Never Give Up” was written specifically for Lion. The song was written by Sia and Greg Kurstin, with Kurstin also producing the recording. Its lyrical themes of endurance, recovery, and finding one’s way home align closely with the film’s story.

The song blends Sia’s pop style with Indian-inspired musical elements. Reviews noted the track’s Bollywood-influenced character, a fitting musical connection to the film’s Indian setting and narrative.

The clip is a rare Sia video built around a child actor rather than a dance showcase. Unlike “Chandelier,” “Elastic Heart,” and “The Greatest,” which are strongly associated with Maddie Ziegler’s expressive choreography, “Never Give Up” gives its young performer a more understated, story-driven role.

The song received a Grammy nomination. “Never Give Up” was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media, recognizing its connection to Lion rather than the music video as a standalone production.