Flow - Comments & Tips

At some point during Flow, I forgot the animals weren’t speaking, the non-verbal communication was so well-crafted that it felt like hearing their words. I believe this film is deeply inspiring and paints a wonderful picture of life, capturing both its struggles and its beauty. The score is simply amazing.

Starring a cat, lemur, dog, capybara (❤), secretarybird, and 4 bitches who ain't shit

I'm a cat person and usually love all the cat content that's out there, but this just went completely over my head. I just didn't connect with the story - yeah the characters were likable, I cared for the cat, but I found the story a bit anticlimactic, rushed and yet boring at the same time. And I thought the music was too strong, generic and repetitive, by the end of it I got a headache and the film felt like a video game cutscene - I blame the soundtrack for it because I had no issues with the style 'amp; graphics, I was actually impressed with the uniqueness of it as an animated movie. I'm glad I watched it though. I wish there were more cat content like this.

I’ve really liked some silent animation in the recent past (_Robot Dreams, The Red Turtle, I Lost My Body_) and this just feels so thin and basic by comparison. The beautiful, inventive animation style is quite enjoyable but the way it constantly aims for the most obvious, shallow emotional beats reminded me of Illumination. The movie itself almost feels like a cat or dog staring at you with its cute eyes begging for you to like it, and while that tends to work on me in real life, it all gets profoundly irritating and manipulative here because there’s no real substance. The characters mostly behave like animals in real life (I honestly don’t know why as it doesn’t make them any easier to connect with, isn’t this exactly why no one likes the ‘live action’ _Lion King_?) so it feels kinda silly and strange whenever it decides to break that rule (e.g. the dogs arriving in the boat). The music is also formulaic, sappy and uninspired. Overall, it’s still quite respectable for some of its technical achievements, but it doesn’t change that the end product feels disingenuous and cynically made. 4.5/10

please watch till the end of the credit, story unfold.

No words, so many emotions. Though, poor Lemur couldn’t catch a break.

Despite positive reviews, I found the movie very boring with a slow pace. The animation quality was poor for 2024, likely due to budget constraints. This was unexpected, considering the many sponsors showcased in the title sequence before the movie started. However, the animal movements and reflections were incredibly realistic.

[Annecy '24] An admirable animated film, which combines great formal beauty through careful design of the natural landscapes in which the director recreates, forming an almost dystopian but singularly beautiful world, with great fluidity in the constants camera movements. There is a lot of poetry in this journey that the protagonist cat must begin in a flooded world in which there are only vestiges of what were ancient human civilizations. It is a new achievement for director Gints Zilbalodis, who has a surprising ability to maintain attention through a dialogue-free narrative that relies on a sense of community and collaboration as the only way to survive in an inhospitable world.

Flow by Gints Zilbalodis stands out as a bold and unique animated feature that thrives on the principle of "show, don’t tell." Evading dialogue entirely, the film follows a black cat navigating a treacherous, flood-stricken forest, forging unlikely connections with other animals like a capybara and a lemur. Through its fluid animation just like the title and nuanced storytelling, Flow brings these creatures to life in a way that feels authentic and organic, drawing viewers deeply into their struggle for survival. The narrative’s reliance on instinct, emotion, and visual cues is a testament to its strong direction, making it a far richer experience than many dialogue-heavy animal-centered films. While there are brief stretches where the pacing slows, these moments hardly detract from the overall power of the story. With its breathtaking visuals, soulful score, and poignant themes of trust and resilience, Flow feels like an exquisite triumph, proving that cinema can speak volumes without uttering a single word.

I very much enjoyed this really wonderful movie it won't be for everyone but it's definitely for me I love cats and I love animation and the style of this is very different highly enjoyable a haunting storyline and it's probably got loads of deep tropes and all that sort of intelligent stuff going on but I don't really notice that I just like the film

Meow Meow Meow ,Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow

This film had me stressed but I loved it. A no-dialogue film done well. That cat was so expressive. There's a dreamlike quality to the animation that I really enjoyed - it's a nice departure from the hyper-realistic animation you see in higher budget animated movies. I'm obsessed with the animation for the cat in particular. Sometimes I felt like I was watching a video game, but that's fine with me. Kudos to the composers, the score was lovely.

Flow, team, navigating each challenges, despite their differences

Could be because I’m super sick right now, but watching this had me almost crying the whole way through. There’s so much love and friendship in this movie shown through action that it really becomes a story as beautiful as the scenery that serves as the backdrop for this incredible film.

The animation in this one is just beautiful. Especially the water and the nature. If we don't pick much on how the animals behave compare to what they would do in real life, then it's a great post-apocalyptic fable about friendship and survival. The music is great and it's refreshing to see animals do not talk. And it makes you wonder all the time what's happening on this planet.

The movie it good, a nice animated masterpiece with no talking/dialogue, so if you think because it is a French film and you don't know French, don't worry. But you can understand it. How the animals communicate and get along. The scenes are beautifully done. This is definitely worth a watch in my opinion.

Why didn’t they have animation budget?. What a pain to watch animation that looks like a cheap game from 95

What a masterpiece, a true perfection, which in less than an hour and a half manages to convey so many situations and reflections. The animation has no dialogues, because it doesn't need them, everything revolves around the actions and expressions of each one, succeeding splendidly in creating wonderful characters, impossible not to be charmed by them, especially the cat, who is very charismatic. The story is beautiful and leaves many thoughts about empathy, cooperation, love, preservation, respect, life and living, among many others. The image is stunning, full of eye-catching details, and the animation style is striking and gorgeous. It's a movie that sticks in the mind, a truly enchanting and moving journey.