Flow: The BRWC Review

25th February 2025

Flow: The BRWC Review. By Simon Lalji.

Stunning, Spectacular and silent emotion.

From the up and coming talent of director Gints Zilbalodis (Away) comes the beautifully endearing story of ‘Flow’. ‘Flow’ follows a cautious Cat, peaceful Capybara, playful Golden Retriever, curious Lemur and an angry Secretary bird on a journey of survival from a great flood that might just result in an unlikely (and surprisingly heartwarming) found family formation.

What will almost certainly deter some at first glance is Zilbalodis’s trademark choice to once again not include dialogue in this film (similar to his last film ‘Away’). Many after discovering that fact would run and hide but don’t be so sure just yet… Flow’s lack of dialogue is truly what sets it apart from every other piece of animation that comes before it, giving it a somewhat accurate representation of the beauty of nature with each animal having a personality through body language, arguably painting a much more evocative piece of emotion then this story with dialogue ever could.

Speaking of emotion, each main character proves to not only present the beauty of nature but also a surprisingly in depth and complicated found family dynamic (the Capybara being the undoubtable favourite). With found family in mind, it’s no secret that since ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (2014) found family has been one of cinema’s favourite tropes, with some hits and a lot of misses. Even though ‘Flow’s’ lack of dialogue may set it somewhat apart from that particular trope, ‘Flow’ effectively makes the audience care about each and every character with furry feline going through a beautiful character arc akin to a human character all while still capturing an authentic, natural and unsung perspective of nature. It’s really a testament to the amazing animation and superb script that’s bound to make audiences (animal lovers especially) be truly moved to the point where it should be almost impossible for audience members to leave without a smile on their face by the time the credits roll.

Ever since the late 2010s it feels like animation has truly entered into a new renaissance, from the ‘Spider-Verse’ films, ‘Arcane’, and last year’s ‘The Wild Robot’, ‘Flow’ certainly has a lot to live up to. Thankfully, ‘Flow’ meets and perhaps even exceeds those expectations, Zilbalodis paints an artful and truly unique animation style like no other. ‘Flow’s’ animation proves to continue to evolve the unique painted CGI hybrid style from the projects above and like those projects it presents the animation to almost be a character in itself. With such vibrant and sentient waters, emotionally stunning animals and a simply immersive environment. Even if one wasn’t to like the film, there’s no denying that the animation must at least be admired, even more so when you realise that it was partially created using the free software blender (meaning even you could potentially make a film as beautiful as ‘Flow’) and on a budget of 3.5 million euros, a small fraction of the films listed above! Afterall, it took 5 years to perfect it to this level of attention to detail and quality.

Overall, ‘Flow’ is sure to deliver to audiences a terrific time at the movies with its astonishing animation, spectacular score and courageous characters it seems pretty hard to find something not to like. With this all being said, the real question of the week is whether or not ‘Flow’ can take home the Oscar for best animated feature in its closely tied race with ‘The Wild Robot’ (another flick you should add to your watchlist)…

4/5

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