Toronto International Film Festival 2024 Film Review

Nature is a thing of sheer wonder and beauty. Observing how animals live in our world, we often have no idea how they communicate, as their sounds seem like mere animal noises to us. Animals don’t speak English. In Flow, we follow a cat as it goes about its day. A pack of dogs chases the cat, and then a sudden fear appears on the cat’s face. After the chase with the dogs, a herd of deer gallops across the field, followed by a tsunami. Throughout the film, we see the cat thrown together with a dog, a lemur, a secretary bird, and a capybara, all traversing the new world in a boat to stay alive.

The water engulfs the entire landscape. Things that once were massive structures towering over the earth are now tiny in comparison. The scene feels very biblical; a comparison to Noah’s Ark is not too far-fetched. But while it has a biblical feel, the story is actually about the environment and the challenge of seeing these animals survive in terrain they were not meant to. The rising water levels and their impact on nature also link to the current environmental crisis. Flow effectively demonstrates how devastating it can be when we fail to care for our environment.

All of this is conveyed solely through the images on screen. Flow features no lines of dialogue, and the animals remain true to their nature. Each one has its own unique sounds and behaviours. We see this with the lemur, who is obsessed with collecting items and a mirror on the boat. The absence of dialogue is brilliant, as Flow masterfully tells the story through the animals’ mannerisms. You could easily imagine realistic lines of dialogue based on a simple bark or head tilt. It is truly a wonder to behold.

Another wonder is the animation. The film is utterly breathtaking. While the animals are not photorealistic and have an early computer game aesthetic, they fit perfectly within the world that is created. Their environment is highly detailed and naturalistic, making the world feel lived-in and alive. The standout feature of the film’s animation is the reflections, from the cat’s face reflected in the water to the lemur gazing into the mirror. Every reflection is utterly amazing.

However, the biggest issue I feel Flow suffers from is overstaying its welcome. Flow feels long and I got the point of the film early on. While it would be inaccurate to say the film was repetitive while watching Flow, I had a similar feeling to watching something being repeated. It just lost its charm for me the longer it went on. This is a shame as certain moments near the end are utterly gorgeous and emotionally effective, but I just wasn’t as invested as I was when the tsunami hit.

While Flow is biblical in concept, it tells a very real story that reflects what is happening in our world. It is gorgeously animated and stands out as a unique animated film. Although I feel it is a bit too long, the journey that Flow takes you on is still worth it.