Film review – ‘FLOW” – by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
The unusual but beguiling Latvian animated feature, Flow intrigued an entranced viewers enough to win its category amid a very strong field at the recent Academy Awards.
Flow is set in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe where a flood has submerged most of the land. It’s not explicitly stated but it seems to be a product of climate change. Trying to survive and find patches of dry land and floating objects is our central character, a small black cat that has been fending for itself in the forest. The nervous creature’s odyssey sees it encounter, compete with and befriend a menagerie of critters including an excited Labrador, a manic lemur, a chilled capybara and an imperious and slightly menacing secretary bird. They spend much of the film floating down river Apocalypse Now-style on a boat they’ve commandeered, battling occasional predators and witnessing the remnants of civilisations and the wonders of nature.
It’s important to note that there is no dialogue in this film, at least no human dialogue, the entire story unfolds through the creatures’ actions. Unsurprisingly, given all the characters are animals, the story does not follow the typical plot points and resolutions of a traditional movie narrative. Instead, it’s more like an uncertain exploration for the creatures and a slowly unspooling mystery. Partly because there’s no dialogue, the film has a calming meditative quality.
Director Gints Zilbalodis has done a remarkable job of world building in this film. The natural and built environments the creatures encounter have been rendered with remarkable detail, clarity and realism. At times it looks as if animated creatures have been superimposed on a genuine steamy rainforest. Zilbalodis’ camera dynamically swoops through this world creating a wonderful sense of space. The animals themselves, however, have not been drawn as convincingly. They have a flaring, pixilated and strangely artificial look, almost as if the animation hasn’t been finished.
Thankfully the animals’ likability and the emotional connection they form with the audience helps us acclimatise to the seemingly cut-price animation. The cat, in particular, with its skittish behaviour and wide anxious eyes evokes considerable empathy and pathos. Audiences are unlikely to connect as deeply with most human characters in live action films.
A particularly refreshing aspect of this film is that the animals haven’t been overly anthropomorphised. While they still have wonderfully vivid personalities, their mannerisms and interactions with one another look like those of real animals.
Some viewers may feel the film lacks dramatic arcs and drifts in a leisurely fashion a little too often but most will find Flow a mesmerising journey.
Nick’s rating: ***1/2
Genre: Adventure/ Animation.
Classification: G.
Director(s): Gints Zilbalodis.
Release date: 20th Mar 2025.
Running time: 84 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.