There are many different types of art, but they all have one thing in common: emotion. Though it is only an unconventional little movie made on free software, Flow has touched the hearts of many and broken boundaries for modern day silent films.
Band teacher Douglas Martin has expressed enthusiasm for this movie. Though he only went to watch it to get away from the snow, Martin was starstruck with the impact.
“Have you ever seen a movie or any kind of art where the first time you engage with it, you almost don’t know what you think?” Martin said. “I knew I liked it immediately, but it is unusual in its effect… it was not obvious, which I appreciated.”
It follows the story of an unnamed cat and a few other animal friends,specifically a capybara, dog, lemur, and bird, all on a nautical journey to find their versions of home after a devastating flood. There is little backstory to the characters and their planet, leaving the viewer to use their own imagination.
“It is never obvious if you are in a real or fantasy world,” Martin said. “You don’t know if the movie is about climate change or if the river just happened to flood, a lot of things are up for interpretation, which I think was intentional.”
With the lack of dialogue in the almost preternatural setting, the art can convey intensity and feeling just as much as sound. Film study teacher Scott Barycki thinks that although there is music, the endearing animation helped blend harsh realities with the beautiful and whimsical aspects of nature and fairy tales the most.
“There are many moments when our trusty cat protagonist does a great job of emoting with its eyes to communicate its feelings,” Barycki said. “Additionally, the video game style of the animation is effective as it helps to differentiate the movie … it is not exactly the same [as our world], and it establishes expectations that we may encounter things that are a bit odd.”
Despite the fact that animated films have reputations for being childish or simple, Flow does a great job of having the viewer on the edge of their seats. The movie is surprisingly sophisticated, unlike how it looks on the cover.
“This movie is not for little kids, though it is animated, there is some real peril at several points,” Martin said. “At points, you think the cat is going to face serious troubles, and can leave you stressed and honestly more scared than a child should be at a movie.”
The complexity and refreshment of this movie has been recognized by many awards, specifically being the underdog at the 2025 Golden Globes for best animated feature film, beating Moana 2 and Inside Out 2. This was surprising, as Flow is not the most well known or widely appreciated film.
“It is not for everyone. I think it’s because of the lack of dialogue and because of the things that are left vague or ambiguous, that will bother some people,” Martin said. “Still, I thought it was astonishing.”