I have had too much fun in the past teasing my buddy, Deb, when she’s attributed human emotions and intelligence on her cats. Granted before meeting Lucky, I have never seen a cat come when called by name. And as much as I tease, I see a great value in our capacity of seeing ourselves, our intelligence, personality and emotions in our non-human companions. I see the value because it is the exact opposite to “othering,” which is often the justification for not offering help to those whom we don’t identify as being part of our tribe. Life is more than just being part of a tribe. 

“Flow” is a visual story about the adventures of a small cat in a world that feels post-human, with relics of our presence all over the place but the world seems to be reverting to its former “natural state.” The lone cat at the center of the story needs to find a way to navigate a world that would just as well reduce her to lunch, including a small pack of dogs and a flock of egrets. The animals communicate and behave consistently with their species. This isn’t “The Lion King” or “Jungle Book.” There’s only a few instances where I found myself wondering if creature X would really behave in that way (like how well the egret seemed to know how to navigate and steer a boat and how poorly the capybara did at the same job).

The storytellers did a great job giving each character individual personality that was understandable within the given species, highlighting the pull for some of them to rejoin their pack versus staying with their found family. At the same time there was no guarantee that this story would end with a happy ending and that any one of the characters would revert to their tribal behavior and forget what they’d been through together. 

As a non-pet owner or father of furry-children, I was struck with the idea of seeing the world through such different eyes and how one would survive in a place where one has such little power. I didn’t know how far to go with this train of thought, especially when the cat lived in an abandoned house that was surrounded by a dozen giant sculptures of cats made from wood. At first I thought that maybe that’s just the way the cat would see these giant wooden sculptures and that they weren’t really cats. I backed off of that interpretation, but it was enough of a oddity (the wooden cat sculptures), that it encouraged me to try to see things the way each of the different species would see things. 

I don’t think I’ve seen another animated feature this year that reached this level of thought, creativity and storytelling. I’m willing to see what else is out there as far as animated features, but this one sets the bar very high, especially considering that it’s a new IP and isn’t connected to some other known series. I loved the Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, but Flow would be my vote for best animated feature of the year.  See it and enjoy the world through another creature’s eyes. 

[Movie viewed on 2025-01-15 at the Beverly Theater]

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Tags: 2025 movies, animated feature, media review, movie reflection, non-verbal storytelling

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