FLOW - movie review

The movie FLOW is a wondrous film. At times, I felt my tension rise, my heart pound, and my brain scramble, hoping for good to come—and it did!

It is an animated marvel full of creatures, water, and adventure. The film centers on a black cat with expressive golden eyes. The creators imbued him with perfect cat features in his movement and personality. He meowed when you would expect him to; he crouched just as cats do when frightened; his tail lifted to the sky as he fearlessly walked, and he reacted with a growl just as a cat would do in the given circumstance. I giggled frequently, remembering how my cats had acted and I related to him. The ending is very touching.

The film begins with the Cat wandering around his forest, running quite a distance in his explorations, and then heading back home. He climbs higher using stumps, climbs a wall, and leaps to a building's roof. There, he enters an upstairs room through a broken window. The cat jumps onto the bed and curls up, going to sleep.

We see no humans in the movie, so we begin to wonder where they went because obviously the house had once been occupied. The yard is filled with giant carved cats of all sizes, resembling an art display humanly created but abandoned. One day, Cat is out and about, and when he hears an unfamiliar noise, he crouches down, flattened to be less visible, his ears laid back and eyes wide. When he no longer feels threatened, he continues his explorations but hears dogs barking and hides again. As they run past, the large white dog is friendly, tries to play with Cat, and offers a fish. Cat is interested in the fish, but not in playing. After all, he is a cat and doesn't like dogs! Then, the ruffian pack takes the fish away and runs off. Nice Dog is conflicted but eventually follows the pack.

Next, there is a thunderous roar, and Cat ducks down as a large herd of male antelopes gallop through the forest, panicking. Cat soon knows what panicked them and is swept away in a deluge of water. He swims ferociously, getting to shore and shaking himself, then manages to return to his house. The film creatively shows how the water is rising, and the large cat carvings are slowly encroached upon by the ever-increasing water.

The filmmakers endowed the intelligence and curiosity in this black cat very well. He climbs to high places to see the surroundings and analyzes his surroundings and situation.

There are tense scenes, wondering what will happen to him. Will he survive, surrounded by water and with nowhere else to go? Will he drown?

Cat doesn't trust the ruffian dog group and passes on getting into a boat with them, as White Dog implores him with his eyes. Cat swims and climbs aboard a sailboat that drifts near, where he is met by a large creature. Soon, they get close to shore and pick up the White Dog. Cat hadn't eaten, and despite being engrossed in the film, part of my brain was worried. How will he eat? Soon, the sailboat has a cast of characters that must work together to survive in a flooded environment. They learn to co-exist and truly care for each other despite their differences, one fishing and several piloting the boat.

The visuals and qualities imbued in each character are beautiful to behold. I recommend this movie for all audiences and give it TEN STARS for its imagination, creativity, and story-telling skills. A modern parable, this will be a classic, all done without words. 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩 🤩

A/N: Many people use IMBD or Rotten Tomatoes photos in their reviews, but as far as I know, those are copyrighted, so I won't use them, even though they are professionally created and better portray the film. I know that film trailers also have copyrights. Therefore, the photo at the top was created using AI.

Copyright © 3/15/2025 by Andrea O. Corwin

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