Flow opened to many international markets recently, ahead of its Academy Award win for Best Animated Feature in 2025. Putting aside my disappointment of Indian distributors/cinemas not giving animated films enough shows, I managed to watch this masterpiece in all its glory on the big screen.
From the opening scene, this Latvian movie was the true representation of David taking on the Goliath. The animation style is a delight to the eyes, and the fact that it was made using the free, open-source Blender and rendered with Eevee, is a testament to the little guy winning with just sheer talent and skill.
As if ordained by the animation gods, this theme also forms the crux of Flow, which follows a cat trying to escape rising waters. The cat, introduced to us as a small part of the sprawling ecosystem of a swamp, quickly becomes the central character in the story.
A flash flood, followed by rising waters, leads to a scramble, where the cat finds ways to survive. It joins a playful yellow labrador retriever dog, a sleepy capybara, a regal secretary bird, and a hoarder ring-tailed lemur in a boat.
A still from ‘Flow’
The setting is rather simple. There are no dialogues. The makers, however, weave a wonderful film with strong storytelling devices, and we are glued into this survival thriller of sorts. From the cat to the lemur, each character is delved into with such detail that it humanises their emotion—a feat that most frontline filmmakers are not even able to achieve with actual humans in front of the camera.
Flow is not only a nod to excellent indie animation but it also proves that great animated features don’t need to come at a heavy price. With just a little over $3.6 million in budget, this Latvian animated indie flick has given industry giants a run for their money. That too, in a year, where it competed with the likes of Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and DreamWorks’s The Wild Robot.
A still from ‘Flow’
Flow is a dialogue-free survival adventure that touches on the surreal—but, barely. With a gross of maybe 5 minutes of surreal elements, moviegoers are slowly but surely brought into a world where its existence feels organic.
From the animated feature ‘Flow’
This is very much in contrast with the plot armour formulae many Western studios employ when making animated features. Instead of something from the stable of Pixar, DreamWorks, or even Disney, this Latvian indie flick resembles the works of Hayao Miyazaki—sans the massive use of surrealism, of course.
The frames are beautiful, as if painted masterpieces stitched together with such ease. Especially, in the present world, where recognition of true talent and skill are more important than ever to cut through the generously polluted art-sphere thanks to AI-generated (AI-lifted) clutter, Flow is a testament to what humans are truly capable of in the art of animated filmmaking.
The true test of great animation is how effortless and close to real it gets. More often than not, it is not about how it looks but rather about how it makes you feel. That, is the essence of films and filmmaking, and Flow does exactly that. Pure cinema.
Film: FLOW
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Genre: Animated Feature
Rating: 5/5 | ★★★★★
