2024 ‧Animated Drama‧ 85m
Lativan filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis follows up 2019’s Away with a tale about a cat and a flood with Flow (Straume). The animated adventure features no dialogue, but words are not needed for this multi-layered story.
The film’s protagonist is a black cat who lives in a house near a large forest. The cat spends the day roaming and meets a band of dogs that chase them through the woods. The cat evades the dogs, but soon sees them again, running away from a large herd of deer. The deer are themselves running away from a large tsunami that sweeps up the cat and the dogs. The cat finds their way back on land and to their house. However, the water is still rising. Soon the cat must flee its home, climbing to higher and higher ground. Eventually they climb aboard a boat with a capybara, no explanation as to how they got the boat, and together they navigate the calamity gaining other animals along the way in their makeshift ark: a lemur, one of the dogs, and a large secretary bird.
Zilbalodis does a good job of making a world that is believable and interesting to watch. The animation does not have that major studio sheen, but perhaps that serves the story best. There is a notable lack of humans in this world, and it is no reason is given. Ultimately it is not important because this story is focused on how nature itself reckons with disaster, albeit through the lens of a domestic cat. Said cat goes on a well constructed hero’s journey with their fellow animals on the boat. The flood is a call to adventure, and one of the boat mates serves as a mentor. Zilbalodis hits the familiar beats, but the cat is a fascinating hero to follow.
The animals are not anthropomorphized, and the lack of humans and dialogue allow for the audience to consider various metaphors and allegory that Zilbalodis may be making. What does the band of dogs represent? The lemur keeps hoarding even in times of crisis, what could be the idea there? This is one of the better aspects of the film, it invites the viewer to make up their own mind. It could just be a simple Incredible Journey-esque adventure, or an allegory for how humanity responds to a crisis. The films multiple layers means that children seeing this can revisit as they age and find something new. In many ways Flow could be a gateway art house film for the young. It is perplexing that this is rated PG, when it could easily have been G.
Latvia has submitted Flow as their entry for Best International Film at the Oscars this year. It likely stands a chance in that category, but one hopes it can snag a nod for Best Animated Feature as well.
Grade: B+
~Andrew