Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated feature film (and only the third animated movie to be nominated as an International Feature Film too), Flow is a thoroughly engrossing story of an unnamed cat who finds himself swept up in the raging waters of a recent flood. In this non-stop struggle for survival against the elements, enemies become allies, strangers become friends and loyalties are tested through subtle personification, as the filmmakers display a keen understanding of animal behavior, their movement, and their sounds.

A Latvian production, Flow(or Straume in its original language) is in fact wordless, with nary a syllable spoken or written, giving it a universal appeal. Now a contender for the hardest working man in show business, Gints Zilbalodis served as director, art director, cinematographer, editor, screenwriter, producer and more, even providing the cover artwork for this Criterion release, a modern-day auteur for the ages.

Some shots of tranquil fields or wide-angle vistas are photorealistic and traditionally “perfect,” and quite lovely, whereas others--particularly the characters--reveal an intentionally sculptural, painterly style, their blockiness a constant reminder that this movie is something unique. Although presented in standard dynamic range, colors are vibrant and highlights are more than sufficiently bright, with shots of the sun looking smooth and natural, without banding. The digital animation was rendered entirely with the free, open-source 3D software Blender, and the resulting 2:1 image is devoid of any video artifacts.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 arrives sans height channels, an unusual configuration for a new-release movie. It starts off with some gentle atmospheric touches but really gets going when a thundering herd of frightened deer make way for a rushing wall of water, and from that point on we never know quite what to expect from the rising tide. Discrete off-camera cues, organic phasing and strong rain keep the surround speakers busy, as the exquisite multichannel mix of the music (co-composed by Zilbalodis) exhibits impressive bass amid all the trebly meows.

In addition to a newly recorded audio commentary featuring Zilbalodis, the 4K disc includes his debut feature film, Away, also in 2160p/SDR. Probing deeper into this three-disc set (one UHD plus two HD Blu-rays), we find new on-camera interviews with Zilbalodis and co-writer/co-producer Matīss Kaža, an hour-long 2025 “making of” documentary from Latvian TV (2025), two short films by Zilbalodis (Priorities from 2014 and Aqua from 2012, the latter of which clearly led to Flow), both with new director commentaries. There’s also a reel of unused shots, with commentary, a full-length animatic and (a first for Criterion?) a sticker sheet of the five main characters.

Ultimately, Flow is about learning to trust while maintaining independence, a journey of discovery not only of the physical world around us, of our fellow “animals,” but of the truth that we have the power to get along with one another... or not. Our appreciation flows to Criterion for delivering such a worthwhile disc of a worthy movie. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Chris Chiarella