"Flow, the cat who was no longer afraid of water," on Canal+: the moving epic of a cat in a post-apocalyptic world

CANAL+ – ON DEMAND – ANIMATED FILM

It is to a story without words or commentary that the young Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, 31, invites us. His previous feature film, Elsewhere (2020), also adopted this approach to recount the journey of a young boy parachuted onto a mysterious island. This time, all human traces have disappeared. Nature has (re)taken over. Alas, it too risks being engulfed by the threatening rise of rivers, streams, and oceans. In this post-apocalyptic world, a black cat with immense yellow eyes has taken up residence in an empty house. Among its neighbors, all sorts of domestic and wild animals come and go, busy finding food. Hardly sociable, the cat keeps its distance.

With the flood approaching, the feline, who is extremely repelled by water, decides to set sail before it's too late. He finds refuge on a makeshift boat, soon joined by other animals, also frightened by the floods: a narcoleptic capybara, a kleptomaniac lemur, a playful Labrador looking for company, and a solitary wading bird. On the boat, which resembles Noah's Ark, each has assigned itself a specific location, the defense of which requires constant attention. Distrust is essential, which requires not taking one's eyes off the other, and therefore observing their attitudes, rituals, and habits. This does not fail to arouse curiosity and astonishment.

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