Introduction
Hey hey, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for yet another exciting adventure, and last time, we covered five animated movies and in this adventure, we are covering one more Annecy Film Festival 2024 animated movie, and it is easily my most anticipated of the film festival animated movies for November and December. That’s right, we are covering Flow today!
Directed by Glints Zilbalodis, the Latvian animation auteur who was responsible for 2019’s solo project Away, Flow is another silent animated movie centring about a cat who fled on a boat during a flood, where he was joined by other animals who found refuge on the same boat. Together, they went on a voyage as they navigate the challenges of adapting to a transformed post-apocalyptic world.
Having seen his directorial debut Away during the COVID-19 pandemic, I knew Glints Zilbalodis is something special altogether, as his CG animation style is completely different from what I normally associate with most European CG animated movies I had covered for the past few years. With a bigger team to work on, will Flow be the best European CG animated movie of all time, or will Flow be lost at sea?
Well, one way to find out, on to this special adventure!
Key Information
- Director: Glints Zibalodis
- Animation Studios: Dream Well Studio, Sacrebleu Productions
- Country of Origin: Latvia, Belgium and France
- Rating: G
- Release Date: 5 December 2024 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
Before I talk about writing and characters in this movie, I have to provide some context on the state of the European CG animation scene to understand how important Flow feels.
For the past few years, most of the animated movies I covered are from Europe and most of them are the family-friendly European CG animated movies. In fact, it has been the similar animated movies for this sub-genre (with similar stories and similar-feeling animation styles) and while there are a good number of actually decent to great European CG animated movies worth seeing (such as The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World, The Inseparables and 10 Lives from this year), the problem is that they are not high quality enough to be competitive with other non-CG animated movies from Europe. Yes, they are not meant to be award contenders of sorts which I do not mind, but the problem is that most are just not worthy of recommending, and this sub-genre suffered from a lot of stigmatisation from the animation community for years.
However, with Flow, this is a completely different story. For the first time since probably Klaus back in 2019 and The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World this year, I finally found faith in the European CG animation scene again.
In terms of the writing, if you have seen Glint’s previous movie Away, chances are, Flow would be familiar territory. This movie is a simple story with no dialogue whatsoever about a cat and other animals stuck on a boat during a post-apocalyptic flooded world where these animals are forced to adapt and live with each other to survive. Already, this movie is far different from the predictable nature of the stories presented in other European CG animated movies and yes, the writing is virtually perfect.
Despite the simplistic plot, there is so much layering and development in the writing with each moment peeling away a major story or character development that brings life to this already enchanting animated movie. As you go through the next part of the story, the perfectly timed pacing keeps you on the screen as you ventured along on this boat with the cat and the other occupants of the boat, thanks to its excellent visual storytelling that shows you do not need dialogue to showcase the personalities of each of the characters, which was what Robot Dreams excel in earlier on this year.
Speaking of the characters, Glints and his writers put to work in providing character development with only actions, as the animals only emit their animal noises during the entire screentime. The Cat, who serves as the main character of the story as it was trying to survive in this flooded world, is easily one of the most relatable characters of any animated movie this year, despite having no dialogue at all. Its presence and contributions, not to mention its curiosity, make it an easily rootable and relatable character.
The other characters all have different personalities and development, whether it is the peaceful Capybara, the stern Secretarybird, the looting Lemur and the free-spirited follower of the Labrador Retriever. They all contribute to Cat’s journey as they venture on a boat across the flooded world.
Just like Robot Dreams, Flow proves that you do not need dialogue to sell a story and Flow is a masterpiece in visual storytelling. I honestly am excited to see such animated movies existing in 2024.
Animation
In Away, Glints Zilbalodis animated the entire movie all by himself using Maya, a popular animation software. This time, he has a small animation team who assisted him in the animation using Blender, another popular animation software. It is clear on the amount of craft and staff he has with Flow, because compared to Away, the animation in Flow is just spectacular.
As mentioned, most European CG animated movies have the similar, generic feeling animation style that, while safe, does not do much. Here in Flow, the animation is pretty spectacular and is wildly different from the typical European CG animated movie in the best way possible thanks to its visually simulating and painted animation style. Talking about the character designs, in spite of the lower budget resulting in slightly fewer details, it makes up for in the craftmanship of the character designs that blend into this unique art-style very well.
As for the background designs, well, the best way to describe the background designs is to see it for yourself. This is because Flow has the most breathtaking and stunning backgrounds of any animated movie, even more stunning than the background designs in The Wild Robot. Every changing scene and setting breathe life into this movie. This allows for a peaceful, meditating experience that is refreshing from the endless adventures that felt all the same in most European CG animated movies.
I also wanted to point at the water animation, because as Flow takes place in a flooded world, the water animation quality is very important and what can I say, except, wow! It’s insane to see the water animation quality to be this good, especially since a good number of European CG animated movies has terrible water animation, and the underwater animation that showcases the underwater creatures looks effortless, with the lighting in the water quality animation being on point.
Seriously, trying to describe the animation style in Flow is very difficult, so my recommendation is to see Flow for yourself. You will be amazed by the quality of animation in this one, even with a limited crew and budget.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
Considering Flow has no dialogue and is a sensory experience, the score is also very important for this type of animated movie, and man, the score might be the best for any animated movie this year, even better than The Wild Robot’s music score which I find to be legendary.
Glints Zibalodis and Latvian score composer Rihards Zalupe worked together to produce perhaps my most favourite music score of any animated movie this year, with so many calming and intimate music pieces that are completely different from most of the soundtracks from this year. It also helped that the sound editing emphasizes certain parts of the score, which resulted in a sensory experience that is very rare in today’s animated movies.
As for my level of enjoyment, considering I covered so, so many similar CG animated movies from Europe with most not being great, it feels refreshing to see a European CG animated movie produced with so much heart, passion and thought into crafting something that is rare to see in today’s animated movies. I was honestly missing something that feels very calm and peaceful, and give the hectic scripts I have to deal with most European CG animated movies, Flow feels like water in the desert, pun intended.
Conclusion
Holy crap, Glints Zilbalodis did it. He finally produced the perfect European CG animated movie, and it is not even close when compared to the rest of the European CG animated movies in existence, and it is not even close.
Flow takes you on a wild sensory boat ride that is filled of emotion, thrills, drama and most importantly, heart. Some of the best writing of any animated movie this year even with no dialogue whatsoever, with well-developed characters with so much charm and personality just by their actions alone and the animation is easily the best for any animated movie this year, yet alone European CG animated movies. That is not to mention its top-tier animated movie score being the best of any animated movie this year, and I was so close to tears with how perfect this was.
Honestly, Flow is the Into the Spider-Verse of the European CG animated movie scene, and I hope it inspired European CG animation studios to break out of their shell and produce top-tier European CG animated movies that are as competitive as some of the best animated movies in the future.
We still got one more adventure to go before we can close curtains on the 2024 season, so tune in next time as we discover six more animated movies to close out the 2024 season. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
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