The international animation sensation from Latvia surprised the world by besting big movies from big studios to win the Academy Award for the Best Animated Movie of 2024. Flow is a wordless fable about a group of animals trying to survive in a flood-ravaged world bereft of humans. The presumptive main character is a small black cat who befriends an alliance of a Labrador, a lemur, a large bird, and even a capybara. They float around on a sailboat and take turns relying upon one another. The animation style is dream-like and painterly from Blender, a free open-source 3D software tool. There’s a sweetness to the movie that doesn’t dip into maudlin territory; it’s like Homeward Bound minus celebrity voices. However, the movie is also a bit airy and lackadaisical in its pacing. There are many sequences of the cat just observing the view underwater, and there are segments that get very abstract and metaphorical that can be confusing. The movie also ends in a very, “Oh, that’s it?” kind of fashion. Without broader characterization, we’re watching animals essentially be animals. While this doesn’t mean they are undeserving of empathy, I kept wondering if maybe we were headed for a Life of Pi-style allegory. It’s quite often a beautiful movie to watch, and I celebrate this little underdog animated movie getting the kind of platform and acclaim that larger animation houses take for granted, but it left me a bit cold. It’s an easy movie to appreciate with its mature themes and surreal imagery, but I wanted more to engage with.

Nate’s Grade: B-