Following a late 2024 wide-theatrical release, the Oscar-nominated film Flow is set to make its streaming debut on Max Friday, February 14. Flow is one of a handful of stellar titles nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars this year, featuring stunning CG animation and creative storytelling that relies solely on the musical score, diegetic animal sounds, and the images on the screen. You can read a full synopsis of the movie below:
“A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, FLOW follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage, and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet.”
Flow is unique among the animated films nominated this year, thanks to its lack of dialogue. The movie is led entirely by a cast of animals whose physicality and mannerisms drive the story. It’s a creative take on the stranded animal story, and it helps that the computer-generated animation has a painterly style that gives the movie a certain warmth. Besides that, Flow was also directed, produced, written, and edited by Gints Zilbalodis, who also helped compose the film score, showcasing the filmmaker’s incredible talent in all aspects of production. Overall, Flow is a must-see, especially considering a small animation of around 50 people made this unbelievable film.
‘Flow’ is One of Several Best Animated Feature Nominees Available on Streaming
The 2025 Best Animated Feature nominees have slowly but surely made their way to streaming, and those not yet available on a streaming platform can still be purchased or rented digitally in stores such as Apple TV or Prime Video. When Flow hits Max on February 14th, four of the five nominees will be available to stream, just in time for the Academy Awards ceremony on March 2nd. The only film not available on streaming is the Australian stop-motion animated Memoir of a Snail, which is digitally obtainable for rent or purchase.
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The nominated animated films have various animation styles, making the category feel considerably more diverse and exciting. From the stop-motion animation of Memoir of a Snail and Wallace and Gromit to the CG animation and painterly style of The Wild Robot, there’s plenty for animation fans to admire in each of the nominees. Flow is especially unique, as it was animated using the open-source software Blender. It brings the aquatic and mystical world to life in a style unlike any of the previously mentioned movies.
Flow is an enjoyable watch and a worthy addition to the Max catalog of films. The streaming service already hosts Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the 2024 Best Animated Feature winner. Should Flow win the statue on March 2nd, the two films would make an interesting double feature on the streaming service.
4.5
/5
Release Date
November 22, 2024
Runtime
1h 24m
Director
Gints Zilbalodis
Writers
Gints Zilbalodis, Matiss Kaza
Producers
Ron Dyens, Matīss Kaža
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