Review: Flow

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Official Synopsis: Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences.

There has been a ton of buzz behind Latvia's current Oscar submission. So I made a point to rent it on VOD before a recent flight. Honestly, I had not read many reviews. I feel like at most I'd listen to critics mention they enjoyed it in passing, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I hit play.

Flow has no dialogue and that ends up working very well for the story. The animation does take a bit to get used to. I saw someone on letterboxd call it "Play Station 2 animation" and that is spot on. The animals look very "cheap" but the scenery looks gorgeous and when you're watching a film with nothing but the occasional animal noise, score, and the sounds of nature, you hardly care eventually. 

I've never in my life been so invested in a capybara. While I doubted Flow in the first few minutes, I was delightfully pleased by the end of it. I enjoyed watching the animals come together and navigate the flood. Personally, I still think Memoir of a Snail is the strongest Animated film out there right now. (By the time this review goes up, the Oscar nominations will have been announced, and I'm just assuming both of these films will be there) but Flow is unique and I hope people continue to watch it. 

Grade: B

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