Review by C.J. Bunce
Up against some good contenders for the best animated film Academy Award, including Aardman Animation’s latest wonderful Wallace and Gromit movie, Latvian writer-director Gints Zilbalodis’s Flow is the kind of fresh film that grabs you and doesn’t let go. It’s such a visual spectacle and emotional rollercoaster that Oscar voters simply had no choice. Flow is why they give movies awards. Not only did Zilbalodis and his animation and visual effects team seem to successfully motion cap my cat for the star character, they found the core characteristics of dogs, birds, a capybara, a lemur, and a whale, along with all the nature, insects, sounds, and silence that a planet in a Noah’s Ark-level apocalypse might experience. If animal peril is not your thing, you might watch with one eye closed. Ultimately one supporting character has an off-screen end as one can imagine of many others in the animal kingdom. But it all has a hopeful ending. Flow is The Jungle Book for the 21st century and it’s now streaming on Max.
Nearly an hour and a half of a movie with no dialogue may not sound like a good idea at first. Then you see how realistic the impossible-to-place environment is. Then you watch this black cat. And the animated world envelopes you. The visuals compared to cutting edge 3D CGI aren’t sharp and perfect, but somehow that leaves room for a better grasp on how animals move and act. This doesn’t look like anything we’ve seen before, using real voices for all the animals (except the capybara was swapped for a baby camel).
And to add to the brilliance of this movie helmed by Zilbalodis, he also composed the music, along with Rihards Zalupe. The visuals and the music sweep you away on an ethereal journey. To say it doesn’t have dialogue isn’t quite right, as the cat speaks cat clearly, and each animal communicates quite effectively in realistic ways. Very little is anthropomorphic, other than a few of the animals that have higher brain functions–everyone has seen an animal of one species come to the aid of another in trouble. That happens here a few times, and it’s completely believable.
One element toward the end, involving an animal sacrificing itself for another is something that will leave you thinking about it long afterward. It takes the entire story and seeps it rightly into the stuff of old testament and ancient Greek and Roman storytelling. It fully qualifies as a spin on the story of Iphigenia. Keep that in mind and see if you notice the parallels for that famous myth. Ultimately there is a spiritual purpose here, maybe something out of fantasy or even… religion? See if you, too, can find parallels that will have you recalling The Poseidon Adventure and the passing ship guests. Or Powaqqatsi. Waterworld is probably obvious. But it also feels like a real-life Thor Heyerdahl adventure. We only recently discussed the streaming series Paradise here at borg. Is this what was going on above the cave?
Again, expect plenty of situations of animal peril. How many times does the cat fall into the water? Many. And somehow we are left to overlook the fish. If you loved the stunning animated movie New Gods: Yang Jian (reviewed here), this is a very different movie, but you’ll probably love it, too.
Because it’s only now come to streaming and it had such a late December release in limited theaters, we’re banking this for our end of the year “best of” list. It’s not just good, it’s spectacular. Don’t miss out. Flow is now streaming on Max.
