‘Flow’ movie review: This endearing tale of survival is purr-fect

A still from ‘Flow’
| Photo Credit: @madmanfilms/YouTube

Pardon the wordplay in the headline. I could not help it. Films rarely feel as simple yet complete and…. as perfect as Gints Zilbalodis’ animated fantasy adventure, Flow. In a runtime of less than 90 minutes — in which not a single word is spoken yet a lot gets conveyed — Zilbalodis manages to capture a diversity of emotions in this heart-warming tale of survival and hope.

The events of Flow seem to unfold in a world where humans have disappeared. While it’s unclear what caused them to become non-existent, it’s quite evident that their escape is recent, as our protagonist, a gorgeous black cat, still visits the house of a person who seems to have had a soft spot for felines. While traversing the forests, the cat narrowly escapes a flash flood and somehow manages to get into a weathered sailboat with a capybara aboard. Over time, the boat gets new voyagers in the form of a lemur, a secretarybird, a Labrador Retriever and his gang of fellow canines. As they travel and their survival instincts kick in, everyone learns to come out of their comfort zones, put up with each other and manage to co-exist in order to see the next light of day.

Right off the bat, what catches your eye as you get into the world of Flow is how simple yet elegant the style and design are. At a time when animated films try to look as realistic as possible, or push the boundaries of filmmaking using techniques like stop-motion, Flow, quite literally, takes the genre back to its drawing board. The makers, instead, employ technology to break a scene only if necessary, resulting in long stretches that put us right in the middle of the action but also give it an open-world video game feel. Considering the theme, I was reminded of The Last of Us but instead of following the adventures of Joel and Abby, we have a ragtag group of animals.

It was also a pleasant surprise to see these animals behave the way they would without the exaggerations we are accustomed to in animated films. As a dad to five cats which also includes a black one, I can attest to the fidelity the creators have infused our protagonist with in regards to its actions and reactions. Flow cannot be categorised under a language as it has no dialogues or voice cast. Without getting us into the POV of these animals, Zilbalodis does a fantastic job of passing on their emotions to the audience. Be it fear, inhibition, awe or even accomplishment, owing to some wonderfully crafted scenes, the feeling hits us more than we anticipate.

A still from ‘Flow’
| Photo Credit:
@madmanfilms/YouTube

The fact that the film has no lines also leaves a lot unsaid. Flow — like flowing water in which smaller fish swim near the surface while some surprises are lurking deeper within — touches upon several themes that leave you pondering. What fascinates me even more is how each animal gets its own arc; the cat, for instance, who whimpers the first time a drop of water touches it, almost drowns (only to be saved by what could be understood as divine intervention) and eventually learns to fish by diving into deep waters. This is apart from the sense of camaraderie the group develops as time progresses and this gets a clichéd yet heartwarming payoff in the end.

After winning vast critical acclaim, Flow has been selected as Latvia’s submission for both Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film. With the brilliant The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2, a worthy sequel, also nominated, Flow really has its work cut out at the Academy Awards. But Flow is a spectacle that’s both visually stunning and offers a poignant take on hope, making it a worthy competitor for the awards. After all, the Latvian film is competing against an industry that gave Cats, so I know where to place my bets.

Flow is currently running in Indian theatres