I am still feeling that deep joy / sad energy you get from the most resonant art! It deserves all the awards and I am going to buy it when it's out on DVD 😭 And no worries!! Any emails from you are gladly received, at your pace 💜
I was a bit deterred by the trailer because the animation of the characters seemed a little jerky and overall poor. (Also a gripe I have about Scavengers Reign, a Max show well worth watching but that doesn't do a good job animating characters' movement.) But your review has convinced me to give it a shot. Always a pleasure to read your thoughts about any movie!
Totally understand where you're coming from. When I first started watching the movie I was a bit confused by how the animals looked but once I quickly settled into the movie my opinion turned. I def think it is worth seeing!
I haven't seen the film (adding it to the watchlist) but I loved what you wrote about community.
Aside I just lost my cat (15 yo, orange) on Monday and that greif is rough. I think I have a pretty decent relationship to death but it's still a loss I am taking hard.
Thank you, I think about community and connection a lot these days. We are all so lonely! I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your cat. What was their name? It is so devastating to lose a living and kind being you love and have formed true companionship with.
Franz. He was my first cat (I wanted cats my whole life but my dad's allergic). He was a huge orange guy who had such a presence in my house. I have three other cats but his absence is notable.
Oh I was hoping this movie would be as good as it looked. Thank you for the review. But I really came here to say that we used Lap of Love in August to say goodbye to our 16yo Italian Greyhound and they are just THE BEST. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
A beautiful piece on a beautiful movie. We are a cat household so everyone watching was very attuned to how accurately the filmmakers nailed cat behavior. My teens and tweens loved it but I too would love to see how smaller children react to it. I feel like it has a very good chance of entrancing them throughout.
Also, your comment about how the people-less world in this film is still teeming with life reminds me of something I read once regarding how whenever someone says "We're destroying the planet!" what they actually mean is that we are destroying it for US. The planet will go along just fine without us long after we're gone.
Caught this one over at TIFF this year and I couldn't help but find that this is the one animated film I've been thinking about most all year round. It's very beautiful, and thanks for sharing with us this piece too, Angelica!
We finally made time to see it yesterday and the 16yo cried at least three times and the husband was still feeling the emotions. We drove home without any music and just discussed the film and how we felt.
Glad you wrote about it or we wouldn’t have had it on our radar.
Thank you for that. I was so deeply moved by this film too. not the least of which because my own kitty looks exactly like the one in the film. i did not expect it to be a meditation on our very own existence, and THAT was a poignant surprise.
I finally went to my local theatre to see Flow. There were 3 separate times where I had to try very hard not to cry. One of them was the final interaction between Black Cat and the Secretary Bird. The idea that human culture might be gone but that animals still have access to spirituality, and the sublime and the inexplicable — I am tearing up just thinking about it.
I went to a Sunday matinee show, so the audience mostly consisted of families and a few clusters of the elderly. One child in particular - I want to say between the ages of 5-8 - sat at the front of the theater and was wailing VERY loudly during certain scenes. Their mom was trying to politely shush them. Now, they weren’t misbehaving in any sense - they were quiet for most of the movie, and at first I assumed they were still too young to fully practice theater etiquette.
But then I realized that the scenes they were wailing about were the same scenes that *I* was getting worked up over. They, too, were overwhelmed by beauty. They, too, were having their brains re-wired in a way that they were not planning to deal with on a Sunday afternoon. And they did not know how to stifle all of that emotion, so they cried very loudly about it.
What a gift of a film — to trigger emotions that we didn’t even realize existed, didn’t even realize we could access.
This review moved me as deeply as I imagine the film itself will. The way you write about animals—as beings with souls, as teachers of presence and grief—feels like truth that’s too often forgotten in the noise of modern life. Your reflection on community, especially the line about people craving connection without conflict, was a gut punch. Flow sounds like an elegy and a love letter all at once—thank you for bringing it to my attention with such care and grace.
This review wrecked me in the gentlest way. I haven’t even seen Flow yet, but your words opened the door to something bigger than a film — a meditation on grief, kinship, and what remains when we’re gone.
The detail about Paul Newman and the Lap of Love email especially floored me. That idea — that animals grieve mindfully, without the psychological baggage we carry — feels like a truth I’ve known in my bones but never had language for.
Also deeply resonated with your reflections on community. We say we want connection, but most of us haven’t built the emotional stamina to stay in it when it gets uncomfortable. Watching a silent cat brave rising waters and form bonds stronger than fear might be the most honest metaphor we have.
Thank you for holding all this with such beauty and precision.
Oh my goodness, just saw this film and am still so moved!
Isn’t it so wonderful??? Also, I think I owe you an email. That completely escaped my brain.
I am still feeling that deep joy / sad energy you get from the most resonant art! It deserves all the awards and I am going to buy it when it's out on DVD 😭 And no worries!! Any emails from you are gladly received, at your pace 💜
Always enjoy and appreciate your writing. This movie wasn’t on my radar but now I’m eager to bring my daughters to see it.
Let me know how the kiddos feel about. Very curious how kids will respond. I’ve heard good things from critics who brought their kids to screenings.
appreciate this review so much! thank you for writing as I never would've heard of Flow, cant wait to watch.
You’re very welcome. It’s def worth seeing on the big screen if you can!
Beautiful writing Angelica. I love this movie so much.
Thank you. I am very happy with how the newsletter turned out. It’s such an amazing film.
This looks like such a gorgeous film. Adding it to my to-watch list.
Also, Paulie looks like he was the sweetest boy. 💕
I was a bit deterred by the trailer because the animation of the characters seemed a little jerky and overall poor. (Also a gripe I have about Scavengers Reign, a Max show well worth watching but that doesn't do a good job animating characters' movement.) But your review has convinced me to give it a shot. Always a pleasure to read your thoughts about any movie!
Totally understand where you're coming from. When I first started watching the movie I was a bit confused by how the animals looked but once I quickly settled into the movie my opinion turned. I def think it is worth seeing!
I haven't seen the film (adding it to the watchlist) but I loved what you wrote about community.
Aside I just lost my cat (15 yo, orange) on Monday and that greif is rough. I think I have a pretty decent relationship to death but it's still a loss I am taking hard.
Thank you, I think about community and connection a lot these days. We are all so lonely! I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your cat. What was their name? It is so devastating to lose a living and kind being you love and have formed true companionship with.
Franz. He was my first cat (I wanted cats my whole life but my dad's allergic). He was a huge orange guy who had such a presence in my house. I have three other cats but his absence is notable.
Oh I was hoping this movie would be as good as it looked. Thank you for the review. But I really came here to say that we used Lap of Love in August to say goodbye to our 16yo Italian Greyhound and they are just THE BEST. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
A beautiful piece on a beautiful movie. We are a cat household so everyone watching was very attuned to how accurately the filmmakers nailed cat behavior. My teens and tweens loved it but I too would love to see how smaller children react to it. I feel like it has a very good chance of entrancing them throughout.
Also, your comment about how the people-less world in this film is still teeming with life reminds me of something I read once regarding how whenever someone says "We're destroying the planet!" what they actually mean is that we are destroying it for US. The planet will go along just fine without us long after we're gone.
Caught this one over at TIFF this year and I couldn't help but find that this is the one animated film I've been thinking about most all year round. It's very beautiful, and thanks for sharing with us this piece too, Angelica!
Thanks for recommending this movie! I saw it earlier this week for a family holiday film outing and it was great.
That’s awesome! Glad you enjoyed it. Flow is such a lovely film.
We finally made time to see it yesterday and the 16yo cried at least three times and the husband was still feeling the emotions. We drove home without any music and just discussed the film and how we felt.
Glad you wrote about it or we wouldn’t have had it on our radar.
Omg. This makes me so happy to hear!
Thank you for that. I was so deeply moved by this film too. not the least of which because my own kitty looks exactly like the one in the film. i did not expect it to be a meditation on our very own existence, and THAT was a poignant surprise.
I finally went to my local theatre to see Flow. There were 3 separate times where I had to try very hard not to cry. One of them was the final interaction between Black Cat and the Secretary Bird. The idea that human culture might be gone but that animals still have access to spirituality, and the sublime and the inexplicable — I am tearing up just thinking about it.
I went to a Sunday matinee show, so the audience mostly consisted of families and a few clusters of the elderly. One child in particular - I want to say between the ages of 5-8 - sat at the front of the theater and was wailing VERY loudly during certain scenes. Their mom was trying to politely shush them. Now, they weren’t misbehaving in any sense - they were quiet for most of the movie, and at first I assumed they were still too young to fully practice theater etiquette.
But then I realized that the scenes they were wailing about were the same scenes that *I* was getting worked up over. They, too, were overwhelmed by beauty. They, too, were having their brains re-wired in a way that they were not planning to deal with on a Sunday afternoon. And they did not know how to stifle all of that emotion, so they cried very loudly about it.
What a gift of a film — to trigger emotions that we didn’t even realize existed, didn’t even realize we could access.
This review moved me as deeply as I imagine the film itself will. The way you write about animals—as beings with souls, as teachers of presence and grief—feels like truth that’s too often forgotten in the noise of modern life. Your reflection on community, especially the line about people craving connection without conflict, was a gut punch. Flow sounds like an elegy and a love letter all at once—thank you for bringing it to my attention with such care and grace.
This review wrecked me in the gentlest way. I haven’t even seen Flow yet, but your words opened the door to something bigger than a film — a meditation on grief, kinship, and what remains when we’re gone.
The detail about Paul Newman and the Lap of Love email especially floored me. That idea — that animals grieve mindfully, without the psychological baggage we carry — feels like a truth I’ve known in my bones but never had language for.
Also deeply resonated with your reflections on community. We say we want connection, but most of us haven’t built the emotional stamina to stay in it when it gets uncomfortable. Watching a silent cat brave rising waters and form bonds stronger than fear might be the most honest metaphor we have.
Thank you for holding all this with such beauty and precision.
Thank you for this kind comment! It makes me so happy to carry on Paul’s memory. He was such a good boy.