Flow – Film Review
Reviewed by Damien Straker on the 22nd of March 2025
Madman presents a film by Gints Zilbalodis
Written by Gints Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža
Produced by Matīss Kaža, Gints Zilbalodis, Ron Dyens, and Gregory Zalcman
Cinematography Gints Zilbalodis
Edited by Gints Zilbalodis
Music by Gints Zilbalodis and Rihards Zaļupe
Rating: G
Running Time: 84 minutes
Release Date: the 20th of March 2025
Flow is one of the most visually arresting films I have seen. It’s a wordless animated feature film about animals learning to trust one another so they can survive together. If that sounds peculiar, consider how remarkable its development and reception has been. It was made by Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis who used free software to develop its memorable images. He was also inspired by the work of French filmmaker Jacques Tati. Audiences have gravitated towards the finished result as Flow has earned more than $30m at the box office.
Furthermore, it recently won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, miraculously edging out its big budget competitors, including DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot and Pixar’s Inside Out 2. It won not just because of its underdog status. It is because there is an incredibly unique look and feel to this movie that is exciting to experience. The title evokes this novel approach. It refers to both the prevalence of water in the story and the creative direction as it surges to life on screen.
The film offers a simple premise that is laced with traces of mystery too. The hero is an ordinary cat. Not a talking cat or a sassy cat. Just a cat. There are no humans present, only animals. It’s like Cats (2019) but good. Flow follows its cat throughout the landscape as it escapes wild dogs and birds. There are also strange animal monuments around this lush, grassy wilderness best left unexplained. We then see a cosy hovel where the cat enters so it can peer out the window and see activity below. The biggest challenge faced on this adventure though is the rising water.
It presses the animals into a frenzy to try and escape on a sailboat together. Even a Labrador the cat was afraid of joins them on the boat along with a capybara. The cat is also accompanied by a lemur that brings its barrel of possessions with it. What begins is comparable to a road movie adventure. They must navigate their ship towards a high tower and avoid the rising sea levels.
The technical elements throughout Flow are faultless. As mentioned, ‘flow’ fittingly describes how much of the film is photographed. The fluency of the camerawork is notable. In the early scenes, the camera pursues the cat running along the ground in long, unbroken tracking shots. The effect is it continues building the setting of the lush grassland and the speed of the chase.
Furthermore, the visual choice reveals the protagonist’s loneliness. The tracking shot and refusal to cut evokes the character’s feelings of peril against the other wild animals. Similarly, there is a top-down shot where the cat is on top of a monument in the sea. The high angle again reflects the isolation and loneliness of the animal and the urgency of escaping the water. The isolation theme is dramatised by the visuals and then resolved throughout the story.
Flow’s unique animation excels at capturing the characters’ expressiveness and feelings. Every moment of uncertainty or fear is visible in the cat’s eyes. Once again, the unique visuals are integral to the film’s thematic aims. Fear is important for showing how the animals fail to trust each other. They squabble, evade, and distance themselves. Later, they become increasingly dependent on each other to steer the boat effectively and escape the elements.
In one scene, the lemur is visibly upset when its possessions are knocked down and then the bird throws its ball into the sea to punish it. In contrast, the cat also becomes increasingly warm to the Labrador from which it previously escaped. The conflict and resolutions are all conveyed through the images and sounds not words. The technical choices are deliberate and chosen to dramatise the animals’ isolation and fear of each other before finding their collective survival.
Individual images throughout Flow continue to linger after the film concludes. One of the most incredible sights across the journey is when the animals are sailing on their boat and an enormous whale-like creature bursts from the water. On paper that might not sound particularly unique. However, the way its framed here and the look of the beast is its own special creation. It is as if you are seeing the pages of a child’s storybook emerge from the screen. Even the sound is highly unique. When the cat falls into the water, the entire soundscape changes. Everything suddenly becomes muffled because we are hearing activity from the cat’s perspective.
The action is excitingly staged too. There is an incredible single-shot sequence where the cat is lifted high into the air by a bird only for it to dropped unexpectedly. The camera precariously follows the freefall dive as the cat plunges from the sky. It then claws its way down the ship mast to land safely. Meanwhile, something utterly bizarre, unexpected, and mysterious occurs in the final quarter. The image’s thematic ambiguity is countered by the sheer audacity to challenge our expectations about what we see in an animated film. Just as the characters are quietly expressive, it allows the audience to apply their own interpretations to the clever artistry.
I love this film because its animation style works to create different effects. The colour palette and fluidity are beautiful to behold. As with the very best cinema though, it also enhances the themes. The narrative shifts the endangered animals from loneliness to solidarity. The plot is slight but deepened by how Zilbalodis’ visuals reflect this personal change. Not only is it also kinetically exciting but full of visual surprises that unfold as if we too are experiencing a new world full of danger, wonder, and surprises. The film’s biggest statement is that it is better to face these challenges, the unknown and the unfamiliar, in the comfort of other beings.
Summary: Flow is one of the most visually arresting films I have seen. As with the very best cinema though, its images continue to enhance its themes.
4.5
Remarkable
About the Author
Damien Straker is a freelance writer and film critic. He studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with an Arts Honours degree in Film Studies. He is a pop culture aficionado and enjoys talking about all films, 90s TV shows, ninjas and watching Rugby League. His favourite film directors are Alfonso Cuarón, Clint Eastwood and Alexander Payne.
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