---
title: "Flow"
year: 2024
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/flow"
fi1m_id: "flow"
imdb_id: "tt4772188"
tmdb_id: 823219
wikidata_id: "Q125622088"
fi1m_score: 83
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 20
published: "2026-09-30T22:21:47.555091+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-30T22:21:48.043162+00:00"
region: "ID"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Flow (2024)

Directed by Gints Zilbalodis · 1h 25m · LSF SU · Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy

## Identity

Flow

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/flow
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** flow
- **IMDb ID:** tt4772188
- **TMDB ID:** 823219
- **Wikidata ID:** Q125622088
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4772188/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/823219, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125622088

**Fi1m score: 83** · Critics 82 from 20 reviews

*In a sentence:* A cat, a capybara and a lemur with a hand mirror survive the end of the world without saying a word

> Gints Zilbalodis’s wordless film about a cat adrift on a rising sea is patient, exact and more frightening than its U certificate suggests. It drifts in the middle and its ending reaches further than it grasps, but we recommend it, adults included.

## Synopsis

A dark grey cat lives alone in a house in a forest, in a film written by director Gints Zilbalodis with Matīss Kaža and scored by Zilbalodis and Rihards Zaļupe. Whoever built the house has gone, leaving drawings of the cat on the walls and stone cats in the garden, one the size of a barn. Then a herd of deer crashes through the trees, the water follows, and within minutes the forest floor is a seabed. Clinging to the head of the statue, the cat is passed by a sailing boat with a capybara asleep on board and jumps. The boat drifts across a drowned world, picking up a ring-tailed lemur hoarding trinkets, a secretary bird cast out by its flock and a yellow Labrador. Nobody speaks.

## Review

A dark grey cat lives alone in a house in a forest. Someone else lived there once, because there are drawings of the cat pinned up inside and stone cats in the garden, one of them the size of a barn. Then the deer come running, the water comes after them, and within a few minutes the forest floor is a seabed and the cat is clinging to the head of a statue. Gints Zilbalodis’s film has no dialogue, no narrator and no people, and it never explains where they went or why the sea is rising. It runs 85 minutes and it is one of the better animated films we have seen in some while.

A sailing boat drifts past with a capybara asleep in it, and the cat, with no other option, jumps. Over the next hour the boat collects a ring-tailed lemur who hoards trinkets and will not be parted from a hand mirror, a secretary bird thrown out of its flock, and a yellow Labrador who has never met a situation it could not be pleased about. They do not become friends in the way an American cartoon would arrange it. They tolerate each other, steal each other’s fish and slowly work out that the boat has a rudder and someone had better hold it.

Zilbalodis is credited as director, cinematographer and editor, wrote the script with Matīss Kaža and composed the music with Rihards Zaļupe. You can feel one set of hands on it. The camera stays low, at the cat’s eye line, and moves in long unbroken drifts, following it under a table, up a tree and along a gunwale without a cut. The water is a heaving grey-green mass with light coming through it in bars, and the film keeps finding new things for it to do: lap at the bottom of a staircase, turn a street of ruined stone into a canal, go still at dawn so the boat seems to hang in the sky. The score is mostly low pulsing synths and something like a heartbeat, and it knows when to stop.

The cat hates water. Early on it falls in and thrashes, and we thought it might drown, and that was when we realised how completely the film had us: we were frightened for a rendered cat. Later, when a whale rises beside the boat at night with its eye level with the cat’s, we felt something we do not often feel in a cinema now, which is awe with nothing asked of us in return. Nothing swells on the soundtrack. The whale looks, the cat looks, and Zilbalodis holds the shot.

The animals move like animals, which is rarer in animation than it should be. The cat’s ears go back before its body does. The capybara does nothing at all, magnificently, for whole scenes. The dog shakes itself dry over everyone. They sound like animals too: the cat mews and hisses, the capybara makes a low contented rumble, and nobody has been given a voice or a quip. Whatever we know about them we know from watching.

It is not without faults. The middle stretch has a sameness to it, another squall, another quarrel over a fish, another fall overboard, and we looked at our watch once, around the hour. The dog’s old pack turns up for a broad chase that belongs in a louder film. The lemur’s greed is underlined every time it picks something up, so that a gag becomes a small lecture on possessions. The rendering is not flawless either: the water sometimes has the flat, even sheen of a screensaver and the fur sits on the animals like felt. And in the last twenty minutes the film takes a turn towards the mystical that we will not describe. It is done with conviction, and we admired it, and we are still not sure it means anything.

Zilbalodis made his previous film, *Away* (2019), almost entirely by himself, and it had the same virtues and worse faults: a wandering camera, a mute hero, a story that was really a list of places. *Flow* is the same method with more discipline. It keeps its U certificate honestly, though the first quarter of an hour is as frightening as anything with that certificate has a right to be.

Take a child if you have one, and sit with them through the flood. They will want to know where the people went. Tell them the film does not know either, and that this is allowed.

*Fi1m score 83, published 30 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews lean strongly positive: eighteen of twenty recommend it, and none dismiss it. The praise clusters almost entirely on the animation of the animals themselves: how the cat and its companions move, how much feeling their faces and bodies carry without a line of dialogue, and how the film resists turning them into people. Several critics also single out the low, cat-height camera and the sense of scale in the flooded world.

The reservations, where they appear, concern the look and the tone rather than the story. Variety finds the animation technically rough in places; Vulture thinks its beauty can tip into something synthetic; Collider has similar doubts about the style and some of the more fantastical moments. The AV Club feels the slapstick sits awkwardly against the seriousness of the flood. The spread is narrow, running from warm to admiring, and no critic argues against seeing it.

## Straight answers

**Is Flow worth watching?**

*Flow* is worth watching, for adults as much as children, and we scored it 83. Gints Zilbalodis's wordless film about a cat adrift on a rising sea is patient and exact, and its flood and its night-time whale had us frightened and then in awe. The middle stretch drifts and the mystical ending reaches further than it grasps, but the 85 minutes are well spent.

**How long is Flow, and what is it rated?**

*Flow* runs 1h 25m and is rated SU by the LSF in Indonesia. It is an adventure and animation film.

**Where can I watch Flow in Indonesia?**

*Flow* is not on any streaming or rental service in Indonesia at the moment. It is available in 31 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How does Flow compare to Spirited Away?**

*Flow* and [*Spirited Away*](https://film.one/film/spirited-away) are both animated fantasies that ask for patience and reward it, but they are different in kind. Miyazaki's film has a child at its centre, a crowded spirit world and a full story; Zilbalodis's has no people, no dialogue and a boatful of animals who never explain themselves. *Spirited Away* is the richer film; *Flow* is the sparer and quieter, and the better choice if you want the sea and not the bathhouse.

**What should I watch after Flow?**

After *Flow*, try [*Away*](https://film.one/film/spirited-away) (2019, Fi1m 92): Zilbalodis’s first film, made alone: rougher, stranger, and recognisably the same eye. Then [*The Red Turtle*](https://film.one/film/the-red-turtle) (2016, Fi1m 84): Another wordless castaway story, drawn by hand, patient about weather and loss; and [*Watership Down*](https://film.one/film/watership-down) (1978, Fi1m 81): Animals fleeing catastrophe, for children who can take it, and many could not.

### Reviews we read (20)

- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (5/5): The review calls the film mysterious, magical and worthy of Studio Ghibli. It praises the film’s timelessly beguiling quality. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flow-review-2025)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (95/100, inferred): Nugent finds Flow a mesmerising, wondrous showcase for animation and a thoughtful story about collaboration. He especially praises its cinematic craft and lifelike animal movement, which make the wordless characters deeply affecting. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/flow/)
- **IndieWire**, Christian Blauvelt (A): Blauvelt calls Flow a moving, groundbreaking animated film that feels both radical and widely accessible. He praises the animals’ lifelike movements and quiet, wordless portrayal, especially the cat’s expressive behavior. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/flow-review-animated-film-gints-zilbalodis-1235008455/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (94/100, inferred): Rooney calls the film a deeply affecting, joyful animated adventure and praises its emotional storytelling. He especially singles out the vivid, hand-crafted-looking animation and the animals’ expressive movement. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/flow-review-animation-gints-zilbalodis-1235908248/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Robert Abele (90/100, inferred): Abele calls “Flow” an enchanting, poignant triumph and praises its generous vision of animals learning to persevere together. He especially singles out the film’s fluid, shimmering imagery and behaviorally authentic animal characters. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-11-22/flow-review-animation-gints-zilbalodis-latvia)
- **Slant Magazine**, Steven Scaife (4.5/5): Scaife praises the film as an immersive, wordless animated story that finds emotional depth without anthropomorphizing its animal characters. He especially commends how their expressions convey feeling and how the film’s images retain mystery without explanatory dialogue. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/flow-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-gints-zilbalodis/)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (4/4/4): Strong finds the film charming, warm and emotionally effective, with a gentle approach to its climate-catastrophe themes. She especially praises the lifelike animal behaviour and the heartfelt whale encounter, achieved with accessible animation software. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/flow)
- **Screen Daily**, Allan Hunter (80/100, inferred): The review presents the film as a standout at Cannes. It singles out its tour-de-force animation about a cat and fellow tsunami survivors. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/flow-cannes-review/5194023.article)
- **Sight and Sound** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds Flow sophisticated and engaging, praising its distinctive way of building empathy without dialogue. The animal behaviour and low, cat-height camera are singled out for making the story funny and visually distinctive. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/flow-charming-animal-odyssey-turns-its-limited-resources-into-strengths)
- **The Guardian**, Cath Clarke (80/100, inferred): Clarke finds the wordless animal adventure gorgeous and full of wonders. She especially praises its beautiful, painterly computer-generated animation and the animals’ lifelike movements. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/20/flow-review-oscar-winning-animation-is-a-beautiful-and-painterly-animal-adventure)
- **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (75/100, inferred): The review is positive about this dialogue-free animated adventure. It singles out the film’s visual storytelling and animation for praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/movies/flow-review.html)
- **The AV Club**, Jacob Oller (B-): Oller finds Flow an engrossing, ambitious survival fable, though its slapstick comedy sometimes clashes with its apocalyptic seriousness. He praises the detailed animation and sound design for making the animals’ wordless world feel vivid and convincing. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/flow-review)
- **Vulture**, Alison Willmore (65/100, inferred): Willmore finds Flow charming and distinctive, though its visual beauty can become oppressively synthetic. She praises the animals’ expressive personalities and their convincing, unsentimental cooperation. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-flow-is-endearing-and-a-little-too-pretty.html)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (60/100, inferred): Debruge finds the film captivating and endearing, though its animation has notable technical shortcomings. He praises the cat’s expressive behavior and the group’s journey toward mutual trust. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/flow-review-gints-zilbalodis-1236039346/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): Hammond calls the film a wondrous, haunting, and profound experience. He especially praises its gorgeous animation and the way its wordless animal adventure explores community. [Read](https://deadline.com/2024/12/flow-review-latvias-international-film-oscar-entry-animation-perfection-1236195977/)
- **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (90/100, inferred): Kermode calls the film an engrossing adventure and a triumphant piece of filmmaking. She particularly praises its detailed, observant portrayal of animal movement and perspective. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/flow-2024-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
- **/Film**, Rafael Motamayor (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Flow one of the year’s best animated films and a uniquely compelling take on the post-apocalypse. They single out its exquisite, picture-book-like animation and naturalistic portrayal of animals. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1604379/flow-best-post-apocalyptic-movie-year-cat-no-dialogue/)
- **The Skinny**, Heather Bradshaw (★★★★): Bradshaw praises the film as an affecting, wordless environmental parable. She singles out its naturalistic animal characters and their compelling cooperation in the face of disaster. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/flow)
- **The Wrap** (75/100, inferred): The critic finds “Flow” harrowing and moving, despite its heavy-handed peril and climate-change allegory. They praise its breathtaking sense of scale and its quieter moments of animal behavior. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/flow-review-latvia-movie-oscar-entry/)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (7/10): Bonaime finds Flow an impressive, experimental animated film, though its animation style and some fantastical moments hold it back. He especially praises how naturally the animals communicate and how much the dialogue-free story conveys. [Read](https://collider.com/flow-review/)

## Details

- **Director:** Gints Zilbalodis
- **Director:** Gints Zilbalodis
- **Screenplay:** Matīss Kaža, Gints Zilbalodis
- **Cinematography:** Gints Zilbalodis
- **Editor:** Gints Zilbalodis
- **Music:** Gints Zilbalodis, Rihards Zaļupe
- **Producer:** Ron Dyens, Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža
- **Runtime:** 1h 25m
- **Certificate (LSF):** SU
- **Release (Indonesia):** 8 November 2024
- **Genres:** Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy
- **Budget:** $4 million
- **Box office:** $18 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shsVQvHUTxw

## Where to watch in Indonesia

Not streaming, renting or buying in Indonesia at the last check.

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, FI, FR, GB, HK, IE, IN, IT, JP, KR, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PT, SE, SG, TH, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Gaudí Award for Best European Film 2026: Gaudí Award for Best European Film (won)
- Academy Awards 2025: Best International Feature Film (nominated); Best Animated Feature (won)
- Lumière Award for Best Animated Film 2025: Lumière Award for Best Animated Film (won)
- BAFTA Film Awards 2024: Best Children's & Family Film (nominated)
- Critics' Choice Awards 2024: Best Animated Feature (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film 2024: European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film (won)
- European Film Award for Best Film 2024: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)
- Gan Foundation Award for Distribution 2024: Gan Foundation Award for Distribution (won)

## If you liked this

- *Away* (2019), Fi1m 92: Zilbalodis’s first film, made alone: rougher, stranger, and recognisably the same eye. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/spirited-away.md)
- *The Red Turtle* (2016), Fi1m 84: Another wordless castaway story, drawn by hand, patient about weather and loss. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-red-turtle.md)
- *Gunda* (2020): A documentary about a sow and her piglets that trusts you to watch.
- *Watership Down* (1978), Fi1m 81: Animals fleeing catastrophe, for children who can take it, and many could not. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/watership-down.md)
- *Shaun the Sheep Movie* (2015): Proof that no dialogue and a clear boat-load of animals can be funny.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/flow