Flow, 2024.
Written and Directed by Gints Zilbalodis.
SYNOPSIS:
Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences.
In an age where nearly every mainstream animation studio is striving for realism and astonishing detail among character models and environments (pushing technology as far as it can go at the moment), co-writer/director/composer/cinematographer Gints Zilbalodis (immensely talented in every one of those departments) aims for something unique with Flow. This small but brilliant team of Latvian animators have tackled the reality of budget constraints by rendering their film as if it were running on a video game engine (I’m still questioning if it is one long prerendered cutscene.) Under most circumstances, that might sound like an insult. Here, it works since these filmmakers also seem to fundamentally understand what kind of scenarios, camera angles, visuals, and expressive character movements work when it comes to making a video game feel suspenseful and emotional.
Flow is obviously not a video game, but that colorful, cel-shaded animation style has been beautifully translated into the context of a dialogue-free film. It follows a black cat simply trying to survive after a great flood destroys his home and overtakes nature. Some of these survivalist chase sequences play out like those Crash Bandicoot run-toward-the-camera levels, and it’s intense. For clarification, I’m not repeatedly bringing up video games to minimize the incredible work on display here, but more because one can’t help but feel decades of gaming experiences all over the influence of this feature. Even the wordless storytelling brings to mind some wonderful PlayStation games like Journey or emotionally absorbing minimalistic adventures like Shadow of the Colossus.
From there, Flow gradually evolves into something resembling a human-free Noah’s Ark, with our courageously cute black protagonist on a boat coming across other animals (ranging from a lemur, a capybara, a dog, and a pelican), with initial drama and squabbling before deciding to work together and inevitably befriending one another. Naturally, as they battle everything from the current to other threats (physical and mystical), their bonding strengthens and convincingly builds to an emotional crescendo.
Younger viewers might still have trouble picking up on the nuances of the storytelling, considering the lack of dialogue, although the lesson about unity and working together will always be worthwhile. There also isn’t much to the narrative, although Flow still works due to each story beat carrying emotional heft. This is an immersive achievement in experimental animation.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
