Flow Review!!

Alright! Today I'm reviewing Flow, whose production has received significant media attention. Started as a short film animated on Maya before becoming a feature-length film animated on Blender, Flow is a Latvian pet project from Gints Zilibalodis and Matīss Kaža about a cat who tries to survive a post-apocalyptic world where the water level is rising dramatically It went on to become the most popular Latvian movie ever made, won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and has become the ultimate feel-good story of 2024. 

But is the movie any good? What's good about it? And could it have been better? 

Well, to start off - it's impressive that this movie was made in Blender. If you don't know already, Blender is a free online software you can use to animate stuff (It's popular on YouTube). While you can tell that it's not as refined as, say, a Disney or DreamWorks film, it's completely understandable and doesn't detract from the movie at all. After all, we still enjoy Toy Story 30 years later - it's more about the story than if the animation is completely 1000% cutting-edge $200 million stuff. The animation is also downright stunning at other points in the movie, particularly in scenes with sunsets and sunrises, so it's not a big deal at all. 

That's another thing I loved about the movie - it is gorgeous. The filmmakers frequently crafted backdrops and naturalistic settings that remind us just how beautiful Earth is, and the pleasant apocalyptic setting make it feel like a dream you can't wake up from. You're just a cat running around a world that has giant cat statues trying not to get wet and staying away from dogs! You team up with a dog, a capybara, a lemur, and a stork. There's a mythical whale that surfaces every now and then... It's not a fever dream, but Flow certainly possesses a dream-like quality that's ethereal. 

I also loved all of the animal critters we meet along the way. While some animations are amazing for how well they anthropomorphize our furry friends (Puss in Boots, The Wild Robot), Flow is distinct for how it didn't anthropomorphize. The cat, capybara, stork, dog, and lemur are all distinctly just those animals and nothing more. There's no talking, no overexaggerated eyes, no superb levels of intelligence - everything that they do in the film is within the realm of possibility, which makes it all the more fascinating to watch. All of the film's humour is also derived from these animal interactions, and even 

If I had to pick a favorite part of the movie, it would undoubtedly be an amazing scene in the first twenty minutes. The little cat climbs an inexplicable giant cat statue as the water level rises and he sees a whale haunting the waters like a shark, all underscored by the film's terrifically somber score. It was a terrifying and surreal piece of cinema that I will never forget. 

However, I'd say that's also where the movie peaks. While the rest of the adventure is fun and engaging enough, nothing else captured that same level of mythical majesty as the breathtaking first 20 minutes, and I found the ending of the movie to be somewhat anticlimactic after being introduced to such a drastic world. It's unfortunately very predictable and I was left with a feeling of wanting... well, more. 

I don't think I'll remember much about Flow or have the desire to rewatch it. Aside from the sense of terror as they explore the world, it didn't leave any lasting thoughts or impressions on me. I think it makes for a terrific "rags to riches" story, and it's very deserving of the Oscar it won, and I can certainly say I've never seen a movie like it before - but it also moved pretty slow for a movie that clocks in at an hour and twenty minutes, the capybara was the only character I found myself rooting for, and I was disappointed to not hear the capybara chirp. It's amazing, but more so on a technical level than a sentimental one. 

Overall, I give Flow a 7/10. "The proudest capybara representation in a movie, ever." 

Nice to see that the whale from Life of Pi returned.