The Clan of the Cave Bear is a 1986 American adventure film directed by Michael Chapman[2][3] and based on the book of the same name by Jean M. Auel.

Through meditation, Iza's brother, Creb (the group's shaman), comes to believe that the child may be protected by the spirit of the cave lion, a powerful "totem that is never given to a woman and very few men.

He cites the cave lion attack the girl experienced shortly before being discovered as proof that its spirit marked her so that she could be adopted into the Clan.

Ayla's different thought processes lead her to break important Clan customs, particularly the taboo against females handling weapons.

She is self-willed and spirited, but tries hard to fit in with the Neanderthals, although she has to learn everything first-hand; she does not possess the ancestral memories of the Clan which enable them to do certain tasks after being shown only once.

She learns that her infant son Durc will be killed, as his appearance (being an amalgamation of Clan and Other features) is considered deformed and a precipitant of bad luck.

Ayla still chooses to leave, saying goodbye to her son, in search of Others.. Stan Rogow obtained the rights to the book saying "I was able to convince Jean that I understood the material."

[4] He eventually obtained finance from the Producers Sales Organisation, which wanted to make two films simultaneously, based on Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of Horses.

The film was shot in western Canada, primarily in British Columbia, between June and October 1984 with a budget of $16 million.

The actors endured scenes located in mountains but wearing minimal clothing of animal pelts in temperatures as low as 5 °F (−15 °C).

[10] However, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy states "It is hard to see why TCOTCB has drawn such critical contempt, unless for its tacit feminism: although the narration is overexpository and the equation of mental versatility with leggy blonde Cro-Magnons, as opposed to shabby Neanderthals, is a cliché, the movie is beautifully shot, well scripted and finely acted.

"[11] Colin Greenland reviewed The Clan of the Cave Bear for White Dwarf magazine and stated that "there's a movie starring Daryl Hannah, whom I still like a lot, though she doesn't stand a chance amid all the picture-postcard photography, tacky mysticism and shaggy-browed sentimentality.