Flow

Review by Mark Woodring

Animation isn’t just a genre, it’s a tool, one which is all-too-often used simply to tell a story that might just as easily be told in “live-action” (Disney remakes not withstanding).

Sometimes, though, it is used to truly transport the audience into a world that can’t otherwise be visited (see Sony’s Spiderverse films).

**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it (or, in Mark’s case, the ABILITY to talk about it). Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**

Flow - Review
Flow

85 Minutes, Rated PG
Written by Gints Zilbalodis, Matiss Kaza
Directed by Gints Zilbalodis

Synopsis:

A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, Flow follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage, and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet.

Flow easily falls into the later category. Putting aside any thoughts you might have about any issue which might be easily hung on the narrative, be it climate change, cooperation, etc., Flow shines when you simply immerse yourself in it.

The animation styles, as so many filmmakers are discovering, vary dependent on the need of the moment or character. In Flow, the animals on board the boat feel almost painted, whereas the world they inhabit (which also includes human beings, despite us never seeing them) feels like good quality CGI.

I’ll be honest, watching Flow put me in mind of one of the great video games from the early days of high-quality graphics: MYST (look it up, kids).

Flow has the same dreamy atmosphere as that game, where you feel as if you are simply drifting from place to place, marveling in the beauty and mystery of it, trying to solve the mystery of it all. In Flow, survival is added to that, as our avatar, Cat, leads us through the fantastically and impossibly rising waters of the world and its attendant dangers.

Learning that not everything or everyone around him is not as it first seems, Cat and his fellow castaways eventually find a balance with the world they are forced to live in.

A feast for the eyes and the heart, Flow is a masterpiece of visual storytelling, one which should not be missed by fans of the genre, or those of filmmaking in general.

Flow hit theaters on November 22 (and is hopefully still there for you).

And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.

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