heyflp

10/10

“Flow,” the latest work from Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, is one of those rare films that transcends the need for dialogue and speaks directly to the soul. With stunning visuals and a narrative that radiates humanity in a world devoid of humans, the movie is a testament to cinema’s power to tell universal stories. The plot follows a black cat, a solitary survivor on a post-human planet seemingly healing from humanity’s scars. The feline’s journey is both physical and symbolic: it must leave the safety of its island—marked by decayed monuments and submerged ruins—and embark on a voyage of collaboration and self-discovery. Watching the cat navigate this journey is a meditative and visually hypnotic experience, with Zilbalodis delivering sequences that oscillate between tranquil introspection and genuine tension. One of the film’s greatest strengths lies in its stylized animation. Unlike the hyper-realism often seen in Hollywood productions, “Flow” embraces a visual style that blends natural elements with graphic artistry. The interplay of light with the textures of water, foliage, and animal fur creates an effect that is simultaneously dreamlike and visceral. This approach immerses the audience in the film’s world without feeling like a forced simulation of reality. Each scene feels like a living painting, meticulously composed yet retaining a sense of spontaneous wonder. Narratively, the film adopts a simplicity reminiscent of a classic fable. The central metaphor—the need to abandon ego in favor of collectivity—is subtly woven throughout the story. As other animals join the cat on its boat, such as the sleepy capybara, the optimistic Labrador, and the restless lemur, the journey transforms into an exploration of coexistence. Each character is animated to reflect their unique traits, from the cat’s sharp curiosity to the imposing bird’s commanding presence. Their interactions—whether delicate gestures like sharing food or moments of conflict—form the emotional core of the story. “Flow” takes a bold step by opting for a dialogue-free narrative, a choice that, for the most part, enhances the cinematic experience. While this approach may slightly soften the emotional intensity in certain scenes, it underscores the universality of the story and lets the visuals take center stage. The film’s symbolism, such as the recurring image of the animals’ reflections on the water, is both striking and accessible, offering straightforward interpretations while inviting deeper exploration of its layers. The score, composed by Zilbalodis in collaboration with Rihards Zaļupe, is another standout element. Minimalist and atmospheric, it perfectly complements the film’s richly detailed soundscape. The sporadic use of music, rather than constant accompaniment, heightens the impact of silence, creating an immersive and meditative experience. Ultimately, “Flow” is a meditation on our connection to the natural world and to one another. Without words, it conveys the importance of seeing ourselves as part of something greater, accepting that our impact on the world is shaped by how we interact with it and those around us. As we face an uncertain future filled with climate crises and existential challenges, “Flow” offers a hopeful message: life persists, adapting and flowing like a river carving new paths among the stones. This is a film that demands patience and contemplation, but it generously rewards those who allow themselves to be carried by its current. It’s a work not just to be watched but to be felt—one that reflects the best of what we are capable of as humans.

ArielRodriguez

8/10

Latvia, a faraway country, not only in terms of geography, but in terms of the knowledge we have of it on this side of the world. The surprise that is achieving what few have done: competing side by side with the giants of Hollywood animation. Gints Zilbalodis has created a story so deep that it does not need dialogue to be understood and experienced on an emotional level. The story of a scared cat in the middle of what seems to be the end of the world caused by a huge flood that sweeps away everything and that, in order to survive, must not only learn to live together but to trust a lemur, a capybara, a dog and a secretary bird. Without a single spoken dialogue, the film manages to convey the messages clearly, using only the sounds of the animals, which were recorded from nature, except for the capybara. But, what stood out most for me was that the animals are not anthropomorphized, as often happens (in the Wild Robot, for example), but are seen acting like animals almost throughout the film. And it is remarkable that, without taking the easy route of humanization, the wonderful script by Matiss Kaza and Gints Zilbalodis presents us with five animals with such a well-defined personality to talk about profound themes such as self-sufficiency, teamwork, respect for differences, trust or the need for community. The animation is very pleasant to watch, outside the lines of realism or the third dimension, and turning more to a brushed artistic style. The music improves as the end approaches, matching the emotions that are experienced with the climax and the outcome. It is a film, not only for the whole family, but for every person. Precisely, the fact that it talks about community more than family makes any audience feel called. If you had the opportunity to see Robot Dreams last year and liked it, you have to see Flow.

badelf

0/10

Flow (2024) Directed by Gints Zilbalodis I wanted to watch Flow because it was made entirely on Blender, the FOSS animation program. FOSS stands for Free and Open Source Software, programs available to anyone for free, built and maintained by a global community of developers who believe software should be accessible rather than locked behind corporate paywalls. I had Blender installed on my computer once but found the learning curve too steep to justify for my limited needs. Nevertheless, I was impressed by what's possible when you can actually access professional-grade tools without mortgaging your creative future to Adobe or Autodesk. What Gints Zilbalodis and his team created is an incredibly adorable diluvian fable, a wordless journey through a flooded world where a cat, a capybara, a lemur, a secretary bird, and a dog navigate survival together on a small boat. There's no dialogue, no explanation, just animals being animals in a world transformed by rising waters. The animation is gorgeous, the storytelling clear and emotionally resonant, and the whole thing operates on a logic of kindness and cooperation that feels almost revolutionary in our current moment of brutal self-interest. This is a must-see for any animal lover, and a quiet reminder that you don't need a Pixar budget or proprietary software to make something beautiful and moving. Sometimes all you need is vision, patience, and tools that belong to everyone.

Brent Marchant

0/10

Sometimes the simplest yet most profound messages we can receive come from the unlikeliest of sources. So it is with the second animated feature from writer-director Gints Zilbalodis, a stunningly beautiful, inspiringly insightful odyssey about a band of animals seeking to find their way and survive in a new world. When a great flood essentially destroys the world of man, a wide-eyed black cat must figure out how to get by when this consuming deluge wipes out the existence he has known, armed with only his own wits and the cooperation of fellow animal kindreds, including a capybara, a meerkat, a secretary bird and a pack of dogs, most notably a yellow Labrador retriever. Together this band of different creatures navigates the waters of this new world in an abandoned sailboat, learning how to work together to support one another and to stay alive, surmounting an array of challenges along the way. In the process, they collectively learn valuable life lessons that we as humans can all stand to follow, especially when confronted with circumstances not unlike those that we all must contend with in a world on the edge, conditions to which most of us can probably relate these days. The answers that these creatures come up with are often patently obvious, but the film thoughtfully prompts us to ask ourselves that, if these simple solutions are so readily apparent, why aren’t we doing more ourselves to embrace them in addressing our own current challenges? That’s a very good question and one of the greatest strengths of this widely acclaimed release. This dialogue-free offering, whose only sounds come from the authentic utterances of its animal protagonists and its emotive background score, features exquisite animation in its depiction of a world in transition, one showing the remnants of what’s been left behind and the emergence of what’s coming into being. While the narrative takes a little time to initially find its footing and is occasionally episodic as it unfolds, the various incidents it portrays as the story plays out are instructive, touching, meaningful and spot on in conveying the picture’s myriad insights, crafted in a way that shows more than tells and successfully avoids the temptation to spoon-feed audiences. “Flow” may be animated, but it’s by no means a cartoon, an accomplishment to which more films in this genre should attempt to aspire. This Golden Globe Award winner and Oscar nominee for best animated feature is a true gem, one from which we could all stand to learn a lot – and, one would hope, before we’re faced with circumstances like these ourselves.

Crosus97

0/10

Beautiful movie but quite simple and obviously meaningless, you need to have studied art to get close to understand what they want to convey. Oscar for best animation but that's all it's good for. A lot of awards but it's really a movie that you don't understand. And to think that another Oscar nominee for best animation 2025 was The Wild Robot .... _**Good HDR TV color checker.**_