by Jaya Gupta ’25
April 2025
The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the writer and do not reflect the views of University School of Nashville or the Peabody Press.
In 2019, Gints Zilbalodis began to make a movie based on his short film, Aqua, about a cat overcoming its fear of water. Little did he know that five and a half years later, this movie would make history as the first Latvian film to ever win an Academy Award.
A movie poster for Flow.
Flow is a unique and distinctive movie for more than a few impressive reasons. For one, the 84 minute animated movie was entirely produced on a free 3D computer graphics software platform called Blender. For another, there is no dialogue at all in the movie; the characters are all animals, and communicate as such.
Despite what might be seen as limitations, Zilbalodis takes advantage of these qualities to explore a range of emotions and personalities with the characters. The main character, the black cat, for example, behaves in the way one would expect any real cat to behave.
However, the audience is still able to capture various aspects of the cat’s persona. It is, at times, cautious, sentimental, empathetic, curious, brave, and sometimes even bossy. These traits are captured by the animation and the sound of the cat, making it easy for the audience to understand and sympathize with, even without words.
The animation on its own is an incredible feat. It is evident how much time, effort and care was put into every scene and each detail. The water is particularly impressive, especially for there being so much of it throughout the entire film. It flows like real water, and between the musical scoring and its movement, even the water is given a personality depending on the context of the situation; sometimes it’s vengeful, sometimes friendly, other times it fades into the background to draw attention to another key part of the scene.
With a budget so low and a huge vision to realize, the production crew had no room for error, which is why the final cut of the film includes every scene that was animated. Not to mention there wasn’t a storyboard to guide the filmmakers in their plot development; the director chose rather to place the animals in the scene and “explore them with the camera.”
CAUTION: Spoilers ahead…
The premise of the movie follows a black cat in a post-apocalyptic world where there are no more humans. The cat has only itself to rely on for survival in an environment now taken over by animals.
Conflict arises when water begins to flow from everywhere. The water crashes out of the hills and the river quickly creeps up to the house where the cat lives. It has to reach high ground, but even then, the water keeps coming.
The cat manages to swim to a boat, but it is already occupied. The cat has to learn how to cohabit with the various animals that seek the boat for shelter and defend itself against the ever-present dangers of the flooded world.
Skip to here to avoid spoilers 🙂
The character development of the animals is easily perceptible, providing tear-jerking plot twists and moments of genuine laughter alike.
The film stands to be the most viewed film ever in Latvian theaters, the first ever Latvian film to be nominated for an Academy Award, and the first to win one. It is no surprise, though considering the impact the movie is able to have, transcending barriers of language and culture. Whether intentional or not, the lack of dialogue proves to be a superpower of this film rather than a handicap, because it serves as a bridge to connect the world by a mutual love and understanding of animals.
This movie offers a fresh perspective in today’s cinematic landscape. It forces people to think not just about what happens in times of dire need, but also what differences are revealed to be superficial in a crisis. It shows how natural it is to embrace others’ differences and use varying backgrounds to your advantage. While it may be a heartwarming movie about a group of animals on the surface, it also teaches people about the importance of humanity and perspective. It supplies a mirror so we can see ourselves for what we truly are deep inside.
I recommend this movie as a must-watch, especially if you have a pet or like animals in any capacity, because it allows you to see such a realistic portrayal of nature. It’s also a good movie to watch with company, so enjoy it with family or friends.
I rate Flow a 10/10, and I would rate it higher if I could.
