Flow
Janus Films | Release Date: November 22, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMar 20, 2025
A survival epic full of mysteries and magic, it’s an animated epic worthy of Ghibli. Read full review
100
EmpireJohn NugentMar 3, 2025
A mesmerising, wondrous example of animation’s potential; a thoughtful allegory about ecocide and death; and an adorable ode to four-legged (and two-legged) friends. No ebbs here: Flow is the real deal. Read full review
100
Washington PostTy BurrDec 6, 2024
There’s a message here, and the great good grace of “Flow” is that it trusts us enough not to spell it out. Even adults will figure out what’s going on; the kids will be way ahead of them, as they usually are. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 5, 2024
It’s no secret that the best animated movies can enthrall us in ways every bit as immersive as any live-action film. Flow is a triumphant case in point. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonDec 4, 2024
Flow can be read as a climate-change parable, an empathic plea for understanding each other, or as a simple entertainment featuring cute animals and perilous situations. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarNov 22, 2024
Its narrative clarity makes its fable seem timeless, while innovating and expanding the visual immersion of its medium. Read full review
100
The PlaylistWarren CantrellNov 21, 2024
A chronicle of a group of animals, sure, but Flow is really about the best aspects of humanity as seen through the lens of these creatures. How living things learn to trust, share, and protect the weakest among them represents the best ideas of life on this planet, and it is what Zilbalodis is interested in here. Read full review
100
IndieWireChristian BlauveltSep 26, 2024
A movie brimming with sentiment but not sentimentality, this is one of the most moving animated films in recent memory, and, beyond that, groundbreaking too. Read full review
90
ABC NewsPeter TraversFeb 14, 2025
Latvia’s dark-horse entry in the Oscar sweeps for best animation doesn’t need dialogue (it has none) or A-list voice talent (also absent) to qualify as a thing of beauty as a cat and four fellow creatures carve out a future after a cataclysmic flood wipes out humanity. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleNov 22, 2024
In its simple, generous spirit of giving these creatures palpable narrative power, there’s a profundity: Flow might only be imagining their coping skills without us, but it’s a charming, poignant vision of community and perseverance we could stand to be inspired by. Read full review
90
Screen RantAlex HarrisonNov 21, 2024
Flow makes us think and feel in equal measure. Read full review
90
The New York TimesCalum MarshNov 21, 2024
The animals act like real animals, not like cartoons or humans, and that restraint gives their adventure an authenticity that, in moments of both delight and peril, makes the emotion that much more powerful. With the caveat that I’m a cat lover, I was deeply moved. Read full review
90
Screen DailyAllan HunterSep 26, 2024
There are no human characters in Flow and no dialogue beyond barks and squawks but the sense of peril is compelling, the visuals are impressive and the emotional spell it casts is captivating. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 26, 2024
Flow is a joy to experience but also a deeply affecting story, the work of a unique talent who deserves to be ranked among the world’s great animation artists. Read full review
88
The Associated PressJake CoyleDec 6, 2024
Of all the post-apocalyptic landscapes we’ve been treated to over the years, none is as beautiful nor peaceful as that of “Flow.” Read full review
85
Film ThreatAlan NgJan 22, 2025
You’ll be holding your breath at times. Read full review
85
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiNov 25, 2024
Even the quietest moments of 'Flow' are tainted by existential threat. It’s suspenseful and pensive and painful in a way few films strive for, and fewer still achieve. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeMar 21, 2025
Flow needs to make no specific points about human misuse of the planet. Its generalised sense of environmental dread reminds of something we all know and constantly pretend to forget. Read full review
80
The GuardianCath ClarkeMar 20, 2025
As visions of apocalypse go, it’s rather lovely: a world lush with nature, animals learning to get by together. Read full review
80
Little White LiesHannah StrongMar 17, 2025
Despite being an obvious meditation on the potential for impending climate catastrophe, the film is never cloying or condescending – instead Flow feels warm and delicate, like the fur of a cat who’s been lying in a sun spot all morning. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 20, 2024
For many of us staring down the next four years, the idea that a community can come together to take on the rising tides couldn’t be more welcome or needed. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinOct 25, 2024
Flow might be a digital confection, but it’s also open, alive, elemental. In every sense, it’s a breath of fresh air. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerDec 5, 2024
In the subtle subtext of having a solitary creature like a cat find companionship in a boat full of animals who have lost their pack, their flock, or their herd, we will find a tender story about knowing where we are meant to be. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 20, 2025
The animation is lovely, if perhaps a tad Pixar 2.0 in texture, color palette, complexity and “realism.” Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenDec 6, 2024
Harrowing, certainly, but also a beautiful promise of renewal. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeNov 18, 2024
Gints Zilbalodis’s animated feature is movingly attuned to its characters’ primal instincts. Read full review
75
The Film StageEthan VestbySep 26, 2024
As a virtuoso experiment, the freedom provided by animation maybe lets the camera “flow” a little too much. The film’s choice to integrate rather pretty 3D animation with more cartoonish designs produces mixed results for pure aesthetic pleasure, and in a brief 84-minute runtime it still manages to be a little repetitive. Read full review
70
ColliderRoss BonaimeNov 22, 2024
Flow takes a fascinating and effective approach to animated stories and shows that the barrier between the two types should be broken down more often. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreNov 22, 2024
The pleasures of Flow come from the expressiveness of its animals, whose personalities come through so distinctively that, blessed absence of celeb voices aside, it becomes a fun game to start casting the actors who would play each type if they were human. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 26, 2024
The trouble with Flow is that it already looks dated — commendable to be sure, yet rudimentary at the same time. It’s as if Zilbalodis decided to dump an ocean’s worth of water in the Uncanny Valley. Still, animal-loving viewers will bond almost instantly with the cat and its motley companions. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJacob OllerNov 19, 2024
Though initially revolving around the attention to detail that takes center stage when creating a world of silent naturalism, the script from Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža sometimes overpowers the incredible showcase of light, color, and movement with out-of-place cartoonishness. Read full review
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