A ragtag group of animals, led by a charismatic black cat try to survive in a flooded, post-apocalyptic world in Gints Zilbadolis’ acclaimed movie Flow, which arrives in select U.S. theaters today, via indie distributor Janus Films/Sideshow. The film, which received top prizes at Annecy and Ottawa Intl. Film Festival and is nominated for the Best Feature and Best Animated Feature European Film Awards, has already made over $2.6 million worldwide. Flow is also Latvia’s official entry in the International Feature Oscar category.
Critics have already embraced the movie with glowing reviews: Flow is currently boasting a fantastic 98% score on the reviews aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com. The reviewers love the movie’s beautiful animation, wordless artistry and unusual take on a world where animals inherit the planet from a doomed human population. Awards watchers are already seeing the movie as a strong contender in the Best Animated Feature Oscar race, along with DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot and Pixar’s Inside Out 2.
Here is a sampling of what some of the top reviewers have to stay about the movie, which is only writer-director-composer Zilbadolis’s second feature (following 2019’s acclaimed Away).
“Zilbalodis largely avoids the sort of whimsy and sentimentality that might plague, say, a Disney movie with the same premise. The animals act like real animals, not like cartoons or humans, and that restraint gives their adventure an authenticity that, in moments of both delight and peril, makes the emotion that much more powerful … I was deeply moved.”
— Calum Marsh, The New York Times
“With a gentle sense of post-apocalyptic mystery, this low-budget joy sets a raft of animals adrift in a flooded, Ghibli-esque world. Flow might be a digital confection, but it’s also open, alive, elemental. In every sense, it’s a breath of fresh air. ”
— Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
“Refusing to pander to its audience, Flow is an animated adventure that is poignant, unique, absolutely gorgeous, and a must-see.”
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
“Flow is something of an anomaly in that it puts greater weight on rich, impeccably lit environments than it does on character animation. Thought it looks pleasing to the eye, it isn’t expressionistic enough in style to forgive these technical shortcomings.”
— Peter DeBruge, Variety
“There’s something about the purity of great animated storytelling that can shatter your heart and then make it whole again. Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis’ captivating second feature, Flow, is that kind of marvel, a vividly experiential white-knuckle survival adventure that takes place in a world on the brink of ruin. Told entirely without dialogue, this tale of a cat that evolves from self-preservation to solidarity with a motley crew of other species is something quite special.”
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
You can read our interview with the director here
Watch the trailer below:
