The independent film Flow was directed by Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, who co-wrote the project with Matīss Kaža. It’s just won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

A Latvian, French, and Belgian co-production, much of project was developed in the free animation software Blender.

The film follows the adventures of a cat and the animal friends it makes, all whilst they escape a biblical level flood. It’s beautiful, moving, and has an incredible sweep to it—quite the achievement and we love it.

Oceanic Floods and Cats in the Magical Flow

Yes, then, the film follows a dark grey cat who lives in an abandoned house in the countryside. There are hints humans have been around, but there are no signs of them.

As water levels continue rising, the cat is forced to continuously flee to higher ground. As it does so, it meets new animals. This includes a pack of dogs, a capybara, and a mischievous ring-tailed lemur.

They take refuge on a boat and seek land. But the water continues to rise, forcing them back into the boat.

Their group is joined by a noble secretarybird, who protects the cat from its flock, only to have its wing broken. It steers the boat and seems to have some sort of knowledge of where they’re supposed to go.

Meanwhile, an enormous mutated whale appears to be following them in their wake, occasionally rearing from the surface to announce itself.

Eventually, the furry crew head into a half-submerged city.

There are few narrative explanations in Flow. All that’s clear is a near cataclysmic event is occurring and this lovable group of animals, bickering away with their various idiosyncrasies (yet working together when necessary) must fight for survival.

We’d say this is an instant classic.

Alongside its spectacular visual style, there’s a brilliant score (more on that below), and yet we think its real triumph is in its cast of characters. Lovable and carefully presented, they don’t speak yet are so expressive and relatable.

Importantly, the film also perfectly embraces its U rating. Regardless of your age, there’s so much to enjoy here. Flow massively deserved its Oscar and we recommend you see it on the biggest cinema screen available.

Notes on Flow’s Beautiful Score

Gints Zilbalodis and Rihards Zaļupe composed Flow’s fantastic music.

Particularly effective is the recurring theme for the flood, which ebs and flows like the ever-present water. When you’re in the cinema this stuff really whacks you one.

Across several set pieces there’s some truly epic music to back up the momentous moments.

Abandoned City is another example and after a while we started to notice similar musical themes to the brilliant Gareth Coker Ori and the Will of the Wisps score. Adorable characters facing considerable peril motifs.

For the actual cat sounds, of which there are many throughout the film, the sound designer Gurwal Coïc-Gallas stepped in. His pet cat Muit (a ginger feline monster) provided all the noises.

The Production of Flow

Director and creator of Flow, Gints Zilbalodis, didn’t bother with traditional storyboarding for the film. Relying on Blender to get together a first draft in the open-source software Blender. From that he was able to get backing from various production companies.

The budget ended up being €3.5 million (a pathetic amount when compared to Hollywood blockbusters at $100 million+) and so far it’s made $36 million.

It’s still releasing in various countries (Flow only just launched in the UK, for example) so that figure will go up. Its recent Oscar win on March 2nd 2025 will also bring a flurry more attention to the project.

We’d like to hope the success of Flow gives Hollywood a violent shove. Enough of funding these tepid projects, remakes, and endless superhero movies. There’s still great stuff coming out of America, of course, but there should be a lot more. Taking more creative risks would be an ideal route right now.

Although, to be fair, the Oscars had an incredible nominations list for 2025.

All this attention has has an immediate impact. Flow’s legacy is already apparent in Latvia. A statue of the grey cat has been erected in the capital Riga—it sits in the Town Hall Square.

Flow’s success has also seen an influx of investment into the Latvian film industry. 🐈‍⬛