Flow

In a world devoid of humans, a cat lives alone in a home which once housed an artist who clearly loved cats. One day as the cat is avoiding a group of dogs, it watches in alarm as a herd of deer thunder by, just before a rush of water floods everything in sight. Plunged into liquid, the cat struggles to higher ground, but even there is endangered as the water rises. Luckily a boat sails past and the cat clambers aboard to go with the "Flow."

Laura's Review: A-

From the first frame of writer/director/cinematographer/editor Gints Zilbalodis' stunning animation, that of our unnamed black cat looking at its reflection in water, a foreshadowing of its world to come, we know we are in for something special. While the animals - namely our protagonist, the capybara it will find already on that boat and the lemur, bird and dog they will eventually pick up - are not the most detailed on their surfaces, Zilbalodis has clearly studied their movements, which are as realistic as the environments they move through. His camera is very cinematic, tracking through the world he's created as his cat explores it.

Each of the animals brings its own personality to the table. The cat is cautious yet curious. The capybara is the amusing animal equivalent of a couch potato, frequently plopping on its side, yet a loyal creature. A lemur collecting various human items climbs aboard with a basket of goodies, including a mirror it likes to gaze in. Going ashore, the cat runs into the friendliest of that dog pack, a yellow lab who wants to play, but it also encounters a flock of giant white birds which get aggressive (earlier one had picked up the fleeing cat, giving us a literal bird's eye view). Surprisingly, one bird protects the terrified cat and is attacked by the flock for doing so. That bird, its wing hurt, and the happy dog join the cat, capybara and lemur on the boat. Later, the rest of that pack of dogs reappears stranded on some kind of monument. Saved, they innocently wreck havoc aboard the boat, one gobbling down the cat's colorful fishing bounty, another breaking the lemur's mirror. The white bird guides the boat, its claw on the tiller, but after appearing to play fetch with the dog and the lemur's blue nautical glass ball, it kicks it off the boat, upsetting the lemur once again. That glass float will prove a life saver later.

"Flow" leads us to wonder just what part of the world we may be in, capybaras native to South America while lemurs hail from Madagascar. Limestone mountain shapes imply Southeast Asia, but a mystical round carving in the ground atop an ancient city suggests something Mayan or Incan (the bird will rise into the heavens here, followed by the cat, which it pushes back down to earth, a mystical sequence). Whatever has happened to humankind, the animals, which includes a whale which surfaces occasionally, are mostly alright, the film's climax a hair raising rescue, but not before an amusing joke founded in canine behavior.

Latvia's entry for the 2025 International Oscar may not make the cut there, but "Flow" must surely be a Best Animation nominee, if not winner. The film is gorgeous, funny, mystical and thought-provoking, a unique entry in the animation genre.

Robin's Review: B+

Only vestiges of the human world exist when a great flood puts Cat in great danger. But, a boat and a bevy of different creatures means they must all work together to survive the brave, and scary, new world in “Flow.”

One does not think of Latvia as the center for animated artistry but that changes with “Flow.” Set in a world once populated by human creatures, the climate has taken back the earth and just the animals remain. When the great flood engulfs the land, survival becomes key. On the boat, Cat is joined by a playful and friendly Labrador, a lemur that hordes shiny things, a secretarybird cast off by his flock and a helpful capybara. Together they must overcome every obstacle set before them.

There is an unusual quality to this absorbing animation that does not strive to show the animals in accurate detail. You do not see whiskers or realistic looking fur on the critters but you do see accurate movement of the animals as they walk, run, hunt and forage.

None of the animals “talk” but the sounds they make are an understandable language that grows on the viewer. We are used to animated animals taking on anthropomorphized qualities of humans. Not here, though, as the only “human” quality is they know how to sail a boat.

Do not try to make sense on the geography and the origins of our creatures on board the boat. Cat and Dog could be from anywhere but Lemur is a Madagascar native and Capybara is from South America and Secretarybird is from the sub-Saharan savanna. The boat looks a lot like a sailboat taken from the Nile River in Egypt. It is a fun mishmash of geography and animals in a fantasy world where differences take a back seat to cooperation and understanding. I think I prefer that world to the one we will soon gave.

Sideshow Janus opens "Flow" in select theaters on 11/22/24, expanding in subsequent weeks.