My film taste has evolved from the cult simplicity as I’ve grown. Instead of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars, my taste has shifted to the often blindsided indie films that offer a deeper insight into the perspective of independent filmmakers.
A few favorites of mine include Past Lives, Lady Bird, Dídi, Aftersun, and most recently, an animated film called Flow.
Flow, a Latvian film released in late 2024 in the United States, follows a cat living in a lush rainforest. It lives in an abandoned home, presumably suggesting that it used to be a house cat. One day, a flood ravages the forest, and the solitary cat is forced to find refuge on a boat with a plethora of other animals—a curious capybara, a trinket-obsessed ring-tailed lemur, an enthusiastic labrador, and a guardian heron—learning how to adapt to their changing environment together.
The interesting fact about this film is that it has no dialogue. There are no principal voice actors—only the crew. I had never seen a silent film before Flow, so I was intrigued to see how the plot would play out without voice. Granted, there were abundant sounds of nature, brimming with crisp noise, and also animal noises from the various species, but no implications of speech.
Even without the often-necessary lines of words, Flow accomplished something many movies fail to convey to their audiences with dialogue: true emotion.
Throughout the film, the animals had distinguishable personalities of their own, almost as if they were as personable as human archetypes. Through each facial expression and subtle move in body language, it was as if the animals were speaking English to me right through the screen.
Whenever one of the animals got caught in a sticky situation and fought their way out through teamwork, it was incredibly easy to get attached to the character and empathize with their situation. Although I couldn’t directly relate to the dilemmas, it was wondrous to recognize the coursing emotion I felt for each animal.
This heightened personification was partly brought to life by the incredible score of the film. The rhythm of the music perfectly exemplified the atmospheric, almost ethereal vibe of the feature, with ascending strings and occasional deep percussion for moments of peril. The editing of the sound resulted in a lush, immersive experience in the theater, emanating crisp sounds of seawater and the humidity and chirps of a rainforest full of biodiversity. Although I was slumped all the way back in my recliner seat with a heaping mountain of spilled buttered popcorn on top of me, if I closed my eyes, I could see the scene as if I had been transported to the forest.
If I’m being transparent, the sound was so melodic, so minimalistic, and so soothing that I ended up falling asleep for a few brief moments while sitting in the theater. My previous drowsiness, combined with the meditative tone projected by the speakers, simulated an environment where sleep was a definite possibility. All of this to say, this is a compliment to the wondrous filmmakers for making a film so magical and nuanced that I felt comfortable snoozing.
However, rest assured that I stayed awake for most of the movie, well enough to write this review.
In addition to the rhythmic sound, the animation was unparalleled. It reminded me of the unique and unrendered animation viewed in The Wild Robot, one of my favorite animated films.
As it turns out, Flow was animated entirely on a 3D computer graphic software called Blender. Free to use, it can be utilized for animated films, video games, 3D-printed models, and more. Director, writer, and co-composer of the film, Gints Zilbalodis, began animating the film entirely on his own in 2019. Going for a hand-drawn animation look, he animated each scene in a way that feels almost like a video game, as if the viewer has a choice to run from the dog or jump into the river. This provides an extra inclusive environment for the audience and invites them to become even more invested in the film than through the classic, realistic third-person module often seen in blockbusters like Inside Out 2 and Incredibles 2.
“I think animation is not one thing,” Zilbalodis said in The Hollywood Reporter. “It can do very different things, very different forms of cinematic storytelling. We used the technique that was right for this story. Maybe a different story might require a different technique. But I think if you try to create something really realistic, it might not age as well as something more abstract. A more stylized look can be more timeless, like a fable. The focus should always be on the creative aspect, on the storytelling and the emotion, rather than the technology.”
The animation style assisted many of the movie’s main themes as well. Consistently throughout the film, viewers are reminded of the all-too-forgotten theme that life can be unpredictable, and sometimes, instead of attempting to take control of every situation, it’s best to go with the flow. Animals have long since learned to adapt to their surroundings and work together as a team to overcome a situation—a lesson that humans still need to comprehend further. Additionally, Flow highlights the importance of nature in everyday life and how it’s continuous and free. Through nature, each living being is interconnected in the great circle of life.
The film’s enduring themes of perseverance and the spirit of all beings have helped it rise to popularity. At its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year, it received massive critical acclaim, going on to win four awards at the Annecy Animation Festival, including Best Feature. At the Golden Globes held in January, Flow won Best Animated Feature, beating out productions from Dreamworks Studios and Walt Disney Studios. The win was celebrated nationally in Latvia, earning an exhibition at the Latvian National Museum of Art. Now, with the heralded Academy Awards this coming Sunday, Flow is nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film, a first for Latvia.
With a measly budget of $3.83 million and a small studio consisting of about 50 people, Flow is historic in its achievements not only for Latvia but also for independent filmmakers worldwide. In their freedom and basically nothing to lose, Zilbalodis and his studio, Dream Well Studios, took more liberty with their creativity and took the bold leap of having no dialogue. This decision paid off massively, as having no speech almost helped the film connect with the audience on a profound, universal level.
As the success of Flow has indicated, it is absolutely worth it for film studios to stray away from the comfortable zone of remakes and sequels and instead indulge in a moving story far from the norm.
For me, the abstract animation, coupled with the sentimentality of the entire feature, thoroughly won me over. I first saw it in theaters in late December during the picture’s North American release, and it’s one of the few recent animations that has truly stayed with me. Visually dazzling and eternally transcendental, I have no shame in declaring that I will be rooting for Flow to win big this weekend at the annual Academy Awards.
