Flow Parent Guide

There’s something magical about art; the power to take the observer out of this world and into another, only to return richer for the experience. A great painting, a haunting piece of music, or, yes, a compelling film all have the ability to transport us to another place, one that we can’t forget. Such a film is Flow.

This movie’s power and global appeal come from the simplicity of its wordless tale and the dazzling artistry of its animation. On the surface, Flow has a basic storyline. In a world drowned by floods and devoid of humans, a few animals band together to survive in their new watery world. A skittish cat, a nap-happy capybara, an anxious and acquisitive lemur, a tail-wagging Golden Labrador, and a commanding secretary bird all wind up together on a sailboat, desperately trying to navigate the surging waters around them. They learn to cooperate, trust one another, and eventually become friends. (They also learn to use the boat’s tiller, which is a bit of a stretch, but, hey, every movie needs some suspension of disbelief.)

As with many fables, this one operates on multiple levels. It can be a simple story of unlikely friendship. Or it can be seen as a warning about global climate change. Or it can be a tale about global cooperation – a South American capybara, a Madagascan lemur, and an African secretarybird are sailing with a cat and a dog under the northern lights, encountering shared peril. It’s a clear metaphor for all of earth’s inhabitants being together in the same boat, facing a rising tide of ecological dangers.

However you choose to read the story (and I suspect there are as many interpretations as there are viewers), it may well take a back seat to the animation and visual design. I have rarely watched a more beautiful film. Director Gints Zibalodis has created a masterpiece here, with some of the most glorious depictions of water, sky and sunlight I’ve ever seen on the big screen. The backdrops are so stunning that, if possible, this film should be seen in a theater or at least on the biggest screen you’ve got. Do not, for any reason, watch it on a phone: that’s sacrilege.

What makes this achievement all the more remarkable is that Zibalodis is no Hollywood powerhouse, but hails from the tiny Baltic state of Latvia. The 30-year-old director and his crew of 50 created Flow using the open source computer program Blender for the animation. It’s impressive work: the $4 million spent on this film is a fraction of the $150 million Disney dropped on Moana 2. My only complaint with this film is that the animation of the animals’ fur and feathers is less effective than the rest of the show and it’s sometimes distracting. But in the face of this incredible achievement, it’s a minor issue.

It’s easy to assume that an animated cat story would be a child’s film, but Flow transcends categorization. Yes, it can easily be watched by children (if they’re prepared to sit through a slow, wordless story and a mystical death scene), but it is a movie that will mesmerize adults with its multi-layered story and heartbreaking beauty. Negative content is minor, while film’s messages about cooperation and friendship are valuable, and its artistry is unforgettable. See it if you have the chance: I’m betting you’ll be swept away.