'Flow' is an incredible journey through a drowned world

Latvian animated film is a marvel for all ages

Was “Flow” directed by a cat? The animated film features a gorgeous black cat with wide orange eyes in its lead role, and this is no cartoon cat. It looks and moves exactly like the feline curled up next to you on the couch might, and the dialogue in the film is primarily mews and yowls.

Except this is no ordinary cat, but a hero who exhibits bravery, resilience, even empathy as it tries to survive a beautiful but dangerous world. As a piece of cat propaganda, “Flow” is unmatched.

In fact, “Flow” was made by a human, Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, working from a story he co-wrote with Matiss Kaza. And while cat lovers in particular should rush to the theater to see this indie marvel, animation fans of all ages should go with the “Flow.”

“Flow” is set in a strange, lush world that features no humans, but has fingerprints that suggest people were once there. Overgrown ruins and strange towers suggest a civilization, and the cat putters around an abandoned house in the forest that features sketches and sculptures of itself, suggesting an owner that once loved and admired her. But the artist, whoever they were, is gone, and the cat putters around the property, dodging the occasional stray dog or other ordinary threat.

And then comes an extraordinary threat. The water levels in the nearby river suddenly start rising, submerging the forest and eventually the cat’s home. Because we’re experiencing all this from the cat’s point of view, we have no idea whether the flood is caused by a tsunami, climate change or something else.

The cat just knows that it’s in trouble, and scrabbles for higher ground. As the water levels rise, it’s saved when a derelict sailboat floats by. The cat jumps in, and as the boat floats along, it picks up other passengers – a sanguine capybara, a jumpy lemur, even a friendly golden retriever. The different animals have to work together to navigate this drowned world and survive the many challenges it poses.

(Photos courtesy of Janus Films)

I found myself so immersed in every step of the animals’ journey, emotionally invested as they face each new peril. (My heart leapt in my throat every time the cat fell in the swift-moving water.)

The animation was created using the open-source software known as Blender, and what the images sacrifice in terms of digital crispness, they more than make up for in gorgeous colors and lifelike movement. The animals all act like real animals, registering their emotions through a narrowing of the eyes or a flick of the tail, so the viewer really buys into every twist and turn of the journey. As a result, very young viewers might need repeated reassurance from their parents that everything is going to turn out all right.

And, frankly, grown-up viewers could use that reassurance as well. Even taking away any climate change allegories in “Flow,” there’s something about the idea of being adrift in a boat, on a fast-moving river that’s heading somewhere unknown, that feels existentially resonant with what many of us are experiencing right now.

“Flow” reminds us that the only way out is to work together and take care of each other, especially others who might seem different than us. Hey, if a cat and a dog can do it, we can too.

“Flow” is now playing in theaters. In Madison, it’s playing at Marcus Point and AMC Fitchburg 18.