It’s time for an animated film that takes a very different approach compared to the average title. There is no dialogue here as the film follows a bunch of animals who are doing their best to survive as the world is thrown into chaos. It’s a very calm film and while it may not be one that you would watch too often, it’s definitely interesting enough to be a good movie.

The film mainly focuses on a cat that seems a little inexperienced as he wanders through the forest. He runs away from some dogs and is generally leading an ordinary life when suddenly the water levels begin to rise. The planet is changing quickly as the floods gain headway and it looks like all of creation will soon be underwater. The cat will have to team up with these other animals if they are to survive but can they all put aside their differences here? The animal food chain could become an issue.

One thing I really appreciate about the film from the jump is that it doesn’t go out of its way to explain things. That also makes a lot of sense because there are no humans here for exposition. This way you get to really think for yourself on why this is happening. Is some cosmic being trying to wipe out all life on the planet? If this something that just happens every generation on this world? Were the humans extinct first or are they also surviving all of this? By the end you won’t really have any answers and so you get to just think of all the possibilities.

I do like the idea of the humans being wiped out while the animals remain. They should be more resilient in a lot of ways after all but at the same time I wouldn’t say that these animals seem very street smart. Most of them don’t seem to be used to being on their own so much but I guess this kind of event is pretty drastic. As the film goes on we get to see their true characters. Some animals are willing to team up and be good sports while others ultimately decide to turn to their wild side.

In particular the biggest contrast is with the dogs. The main dog is a really nice guy who just wants to help out. He may seem a bit oblivious at times but he has a good heart and this shines through the whole time. Meanwhile his dog friends are not quite as solid and they appear as selfish and scatter brained. It’s not that they are openly antagonistic but they seem to really just be normal dogs who are led by their instincts while the main one was able to move past this to recognize an urgent situation and react appropriately. Naturally he was the standout character here.

The cat was also a lot of fun though. He was really doing a whole lot to try and survive which is tough since he is smaller than just about all of the other animals. He nearly dies on many occasions and ultimately has to live with the knowledge that another flood could come at any time. The cat did make some good friends through the journey though so at least he won’t be all alone anymore.

A Capybara was another one of the main characters and it was nice to see him. These animals already have a strong reputation for getting along with basically every other kind of animal out there so it makes sense that he would be one of the big peace negotiators right from the start. He tends to sleep a lot and take everything in a very calm manner. Definitely the opposite of the Lemur who was panicking and stressed out the whole time. If you’re always stressed in a situation like this then you are definitely going to be in rough shape by the end of it. The Capybara really had the right idea of it here.

Then you have the big bird who looked rather intimidating at first but he was ready to defend the cat as needed. He certainly took some heavy blows from the rest of his clan as a result but he was a good hero. His injury remains throughout the movie which was probably the film’s way of nerfing him since otherwise he would have the easiest time in this situation. The floods are bad to be sure but when you can fly then it opens up the options a whole lot. The others are all relegated to staying on different boats as they go through.

So there is a good amount of danger but the film also balances it well so none of the animals are getting seriously hurt the whole time. The only main death of sorts here is handled in a very stylized way which was good so it wouldn’t really hurt the overall story. You could also make the case that it wasn’t really a death since again you have a lot of interpretive options here.

The animation is solid. It’s not going for a super detailed look and instead looks more arcade/streamlined style which works well here. The characters are all very expressive and the environmental effects are good. I definitely had no real issues here. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side but this is going for a very natural feel. Having some hard rock themes or really hype tracks would likely have felt a little off. It would be worth it of course but I understand why the film wouldn’t have gone in that route.

A cliffhanger would have been cool but again this isn’t really that kind of film. This is one of those movies that you can just enjoy in a relaxing way. There is danger and such but you have a feeling that things will work out along the way. If they ever did come up with more films then I would check them out and this is also the kind of film you could easily recommend to anyone without any reservations.

Overall, Flow is a good movie. I am the kind of guy who likes a good amount of dialogue to really shake things up so that would have given this film a boost but it doesn’t really make any mistakes. I think it takes the concept of a wordless film about as far as it can go. You still get a good sense of the various characters and their personalities while also being able to understand the interesting plot. My view will always be that dialogue would further improve the film but that just wasn’t the artistic vision this time. If you like a good film about animals then I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Overall 6/10