Flow movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Flow

This animated, animal adventure movie is now playing in theaters.

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 24 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A

SPONSOR of Today’s movie review:

A guidebook about how the movie was made!

Amazon link: https://amzn.to/49uEtb3

IN A NUTSHELL:

The story is about a cat who finds refuge on a boat after a huge flood destroys its home. The cat is shocked to find other species on the boat that it needs to team up with to survive.

This lovely film is Latvia’s official submission for “Best International Feature Film” for the 97^th Academy Awards in 2025. Surely, they’ll at least be nominated for an award…it’s that good. The animated film was directed by Gints Zilbalodis, who also co-wrote it with Matiss Kaza.

Already, the film has won 15 awards at various international film festivals.

THINGS I LIKED:

The dreamlike animation is lovely, but what’s especially impressive is the attention to detail when it comes to the animals’ accurate movements and behavior.
What’s amazing is that the team insisted on using real animal voices. The sound engineer went to a zoo and tickled a capybara to use for that animal, but the screeching didn’t match the film’s character, so they ended up using a baby camel’s “voice”. What I want to see is footage of the sound engineer tickling a capybara!
Another fascinating element of the film is that it was created by using Blender, a free, open-source software that 2 of my sons have used to create video games!
The realistic sounds are mesmerizing, creating a realistic but magical effect at the same time.
The movie made me think of the time when humans were told to self-quarantine at length, so animals around the world were left to themselves to explore.
The musical score provides effective tension throughout.
If you’re an animal lover, you’ll think the film is very sweet and heartwarming.
If you sit through all of the final rolling credits, you’ll be rewarded with another quick scene!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some viewers might not like that there is no dialogue in the film; it’s only the sounds of real animals.
Would animals really work together and help each other under these circumstances? I’ve seen enough YouTube video clips about real-life scenarios when they do, but some people may think their actions in the story are too far-fetched and unrealistic.
We don’t really learn what caused the flooding, where on Earth it happened, nor how much of the planet was affected by it. Based on the cabybara, the movie would probably take place in South America, but some of the buildings look Indonesian. We also see Tibetan flags at one point. Where do you think the setting is? Of course, it’s just a movie and doesn’t have to be about a real place anyway!
There’s a mystical scene that only makes sense if it’s supposed to be a dream. The entire film feels very dreamlike.
This might be the kind of movie that entertains kids the first time and then runs in the background on the TV while they play for subsequent viewings.