Review: Flow

Directed by: Gints Zilbalodis

Written by: Gints Zilbalodis & Matīss Kaža

Rating: [3.5/5]

Reaching the scale and utilizing the tools the professionals in the filmmaking world employ feels worlds away from what the average person can acquire. Moviemaking involves so much and demands plenty from all involved, but when someone comes along and makes a meaningful impression utilizing tools anyone can access, it displays the simple beauty of this art form. Flow stands as a testament to this where a simple animated film makes waves through the work put behind the scenes to make it work beyond all odds. 

A dark grey cat traverses through a forest trying to fend for itself when a massive flood begins in the surrounding area. Trying to find higher ground to survive, the cat ends up on a boat with other animals as they all try to see the next day.  

Utilizing zero dialogue and no human characters, Flow presents a story of these animals, namely this cat, and the adventures they experience with the sudden change in their world. As animals they have no reasonable understanding of why this has occurred around them. They just need to adapt and survive. It brings a distinct simplicity to this story, one that begs the question of how this feature would sustain a story robust enough for a feature-length film. We get the answer by simply watching this cat put itself in continual death-defying situations. 

One can only imagine what a heart rate monitor attached to a cat lover watching this film would display in the fear they would experience for this feline’s safety. From continually jumping off of the ship to the various animals she encounters, both friend and foe, this feline goes through quite the gauntlet but ensures it applies her natural abilities to fare well in every confrontation. While the cat goes through stressful moments, it also creates some surprising bonds with capybara and a lemur. A combination of animals one would not naturally assume would gravitate towards each other, but in the end, this narrative operates as a survival tale, and they evidently need one another if they hope to see another day. 

As much as this film succeeds because of its charming story, it mostly has gained notoriety, rightfully, because of the impressiveness of director Gints Zilbalodis crafting this film through free open-source software. The costly barrier to entry for filmmaking often makes newcomer attempts look amateurish through no fault of their own. Zilbalodis, through this film, defies all expectations and not only makes something passable but also incredibly impressive. The animation on display in this film creates this lushness in the environment surrounding these animals and provides them with a texture that makes for something unique. Animals often populate animated films and typically have talking roles but these animals remain rooted to their natural tendency, which further illustrates this natural world Zilbalodis sought to craft for audiences to take in. 

An impressive tale and an even more inspirational behind-the-scenes story, Flow works through a story of danger and survival all wrapped into an adventure for this cat and the other animal friends it makes along the way. The fact a film of this budget and size managed to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and then win the Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards should hopefully inspire many who feel they need all of the best tools to create a story worth telling to see what’s possible. Gints Zilbalodis creates a feature-length film with only animals and no dialogue other than the physical gestures these animals make to do the necessary communication to get through this tumultuous period.