Just as books, I think I have found my favorite film of the year at the first week of the the first month. Flow is wonderful and everyone needs to see it. I had seen the trailer a long time ago and I knew it was going to be a great watch. But at the time it felt like the release date was still so long. So when the film won the Golden Globe for the best animation feature, I was a little sad because I was hoping The Wild Robot would win. And then I watched Flow and immediately hoped it wins all the awards out there. (Not that awards matter.)
I saw The Wild Robot in theatre and I thought it was great. I watched a lot of behind the scenes footage and I always have a huge respect for filmmakers doing their craft passionately. But then I think Flow is even more admirable. It started from the idea of this young guy from a small country. It didn't come from big studios with big budget. No Hollywood stars whatsoever. The film doesn't have any human, no human voices, all animals with their natural animal sounds (except for the capybara). Also the animation doesn't look perfectly polished and I love that. The plot is also great. Cat's adventure, birds' quest to enlightenment, interspecies camaraderie. Ten out of ten no notes.
The only thing I regret is that I didn't catch it in theatre. I think every animation film deserved to be seen on the big screen. I watched the Spiderverse movies in theatre and it didn't feel the same as when I watch them streaming on smaller screen. A lot of the details whether it's the visual or sound were many times better in theatre, enabling the audience to appreciate even more all the hard work behind the films.
I am now looking for a way to purchase Flow. It's the first time ever since the era of streaming I have thought about purchasing a film. But I want to be a part of the numbers that support this film, to let the filmmakers know they're much appreciated, to let studios know people out there like this kind of films. And also because, now that I knew how the film ends after all that stress, I know I'm going to watch it again and again.
