Sometimes the simplest yet most profound messages we can receive come from the unlikeliest of sources. So it is with the second animated feature from writer-director Gints Zilbalodis, a stunningly beautiful, inspiringly insightful odyssey about a band of animals seeking to find their way and survive in a new world. When a great flood essentially destroys the world of man, a wide-eyed black cat must figure out how to get by when this consuming deluge wipes out the existence he has known, armed with only his own wits and the cooperation of fellow animal kindreds, including a capybara, a meerkat, a secretary bird and a pack of dogs, most notably a yellow Labrador retriever. Together this band of different creatures navigates the waters of this new world in an abandoned sailboat, learning how to work together to support one another and to stay alive, surmounting an array of challenges along the way. In the process, they collectively learn valuable life lessons that we as humans can all stand to follow, especially when confronted with circumstances not unlike those that we all must contend with in a world on the edge, conditions to which most of us can probably relate these days. The answers that these creatures come up with are often patently obvious, but the film thoughtfully prompts us to ask ourselves that, if these simple solutions are so readily apparent, why aren’t we doing more ourselves to embrace them in addressing our own current challenges? That’s a very good question and one of the greatest strengths of this widely acclaimed release. This dialogue-free offering, whose only sounds come from the authentic utterances of its animal protagonists and its emotive background score, features exquisite animation in its depiction of a world in transition, one showing the remnants of what’s been left behind and the emergence of what’s coming into being. While the narrative takes a little time to initially find its footing and is occasionally episodic as it unfolds, the various incidents it portrays as the story plays out are instructive, touching, meaningful and spot on in conveying the picture’s myriad insights, crafted in a way that shows more than tells and successfully avoids the temptation to spoon-feed audiences. “Flow” may be animated, but it’s by no means a cartoon, an accomplishment to which more films in this genre should attempt to aspire. This Golden Globe Award winner and Oscar nominee for best animated feature is a true gem, one from which we could all stand to learn a lot – and, one would hope, before we’re faced with circumstances like these ourselves.
