35 Fascinating Facts About the Flow Movie (2024)

Can’t stop thinking about the Flow movie (2024)? Here are 35 fascinating facts that will make you see this cat movie in a new light.

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1 Entirely Made in Blender

The filmmakers created every frame of Flow using Blender, the open-source 3D software.

Some other well-known animated movies that were created with Blender are I Lost My Body aka J’ai perdu mon corps(2019), Spring (2019), Alike (2015), and The Missing Scarf (2013).

2 No Storyboards

Director Gints Zilbalodis deliberately avoided standard storyboarding. 

Instead, he went straight into the 3D animation program to test out camera angles and movements, changing shots as he worked.

3 Dialogue-Free Storytelling

Flow contains no spoken dialogue. The film tells its story purely through visuals, sound effects, and music rather than words.

4 Continuation of Aqua (2012)

Flow builds upon Gints Zilbalodis’ 7-minute short film Aqua (2012), which features a cat trying to conquer its fear of water in a flooded world.

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5 Going with the flow

The title isn’t just about the movement of water. In the film, water symbolizes change and the need to adapt. 

The world around the animals keeps shifting, and the water carries them to new and uncertain places. Rather than fight the current, they learn to move with it and survive together. 

This ties beautifully to the idea of “going with the flow.” 

It’s all about accepting what life brings, staying flexible, and finding peace in movement rather than resistance.

6 Water Reflections

Flow often shows animals staring into water and seeing themselves. 

These reflections reveal questions about who they are and how they change.

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7 Animals as Metaphor and Theme Carriers

Each animal in the film (the cat, the capybara, the dog, the lemur, and the bird) represents a different aspect of adaptation and survival in a changing world.

8 The Black Cat Represents Fear and Resilience

The black cat in the Flow movie stands for the fear of the unknown. 

At first, it hides from change and clings to safety. But over time, it learns to face uncertainty with courage and to adapt in order to survive.

9 The Capybara Represents Calmness

The capybara is the calm heart of the group.

While the others panic and struggle, it stays peaceful and grounded. 

In real life, too, this gentle animal is just as relaxed. They get along with almost everyone and happily share space with ducks, monkeys, and even crocodiles.

Its calm energy reminds everyone that acceptance is often the key to survival.

10 The Bird Represents Leadership

The bird stands for leadership and responsibility. It tries to guide others while staying true to itself, showing how hard it can be to balance personal identity with the pressure to lead.

11 The Lemur Represents Letting Go

The lemur holds on tightly to its possessions and comfort. 

Over time, it learns that caring for others matters more than clinging to things. Its growth shows how real strength comes from letting go.

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12 The Dog Represents Teamwork

The dog connects the group through loyalty and cooperation. 

He shows that survival is not about standing alone but about finding balance and trust within a team.

13 The Whale Represents Wisdom and Guidance

The whale in Flow is a mysterious, almost divine presence. It represents a higher power and the endless cycle of life, death, and renewal.

When the water finally recedes and the animals find the whale dead, it signals the end of a chapter. The animals have learned what they needed to.

14 Limited Anthropomorphism

The animals don’t talk or act like humans. 

Gints Zilbalodis wanted them to stay true to their real nature, so that the story would feel honest and emotionally real.

15 Visual Storytelling

The text in Flow is limited to titles and credits. 

That choice preserves visual immersion and asks viewers to read the world through images, object details, and character actions rather than through verbal explanation.

16 The Director’s Own Pets Inspired the Film

Gints Zilbalodis based the main cat in Flow on his own black cat, Josephine, whom he had in high school. Her look and attitude helped shape the character’s personality.

The director also drew from his loyal childhood golden retriever when building the bond between the animals.

17 One Man, Many Roles

Gints Zilbalodis wore nearly every hat on Flow. 

He directed, animated, wrote, edited, composed (in part, together with Rihards Zalupe), and designed the film’s visuals himself.

Only a small team from France and Belgium joined later to polish the final cut.

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18 Tati and Anime Inspirations

Gints Zilbalodis cites Jacques Tati’s visual humor and the anime Future Boy Conan (1978) as influences for Flow.

19 Real Animal Sounds Only

The production recorded real animals for nearly all vocal sounds rather than scripting voice performances.

The sound team worked with animals on location to capture a natural palette of noises that match the characters’ emotions.

20 The Capybara Sound Comes From a Camel

The capybara turned out to be most difficult because the real animal did not deliver the exact tonal quality the team sought.

To fix the problem, the sound designers tried creative methods such as tickling and even used recordings from other animals, including a baby camel.

21 The sound designer’s own pet, Miut, “voiced” the lead

The majority of the sounds for the principal black cat came from the sound designer’s own pet, Miut.

22 Long Independent Production Run

The creation of Flow began around 2019 and stretched over five and a half years. 

The small team took its time to experiment with animation, refine the sound, and shape the film’s visual style.

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23 Indie Powerhouse

Flow was made for only about $4 million. 

That’s tiny compared to recent animated cat movies like The Garfield Movie (2024), made for about $60 million, or Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), which cost around $90 million.

24 Latvia-France-Belgium Co-Production

Producers structured the Flow movie as an international co-production among Latvia, France, and Belgium. 

That partnership provided financing, festival access, and distribution, and helped the film reach audiences across Europe and beyond it might not have accessed as a single-country indie release.

25 Latvia’s Most-Viewed Film Ever

Latvian audiences watched Flow in record numbers, and it quickly became the country’s most-viewed title.

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26 Black Cat Statue in Riga

Local institutions honored the film with a public statue of the movie’s black cat in Rīga.

That cat statue is now a famous photo spot and even fueled tourism in Riga.

27 Street Art Presence

Flow’s imagery also appears in graffiti, murals, and other street art in Rīga and beyond.

You can find them all (including the statue) in this Riga itinerary.

28 Potential Sequel

Gints Zilbalodis reportedly received offers to create a sequel to Flow.

However, he declined, preferring instead to pursue new projects and perhaps experiment in different styles.

29 Increase in black cat adoptions

There’s still a bit of a stigma surrounding black cats as harbingers of bad luck. However, the Flow movie sparked a cultural reappraisal of our black furry friends.

Shelters and animal welfare groups not just noted better perceptions of them in popular culture following Flow’s release but also increased interest in adopting black cats.

30 Flow-inspired cat names

The name “Flow” (or variants in other languages) has now become one of the most popular cat names.

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31 Cannes Premiere in Un Certain Regard

Flow premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the section Un Certain Regard, which celebrates bold storytelling and artistic innovation. 

The debut created early buzz and helped the film build strong momentum on its way to later awards.

32 Global Festival Success

After Cannes, Flow continued to shine at major festivals around the world. 

It won top prizes and audience awards at Annecy, the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and many others. 

The film also went on to capture a Golden Globe and France’s César for Best Animated Feature.

33 Historic Oscar Win

Flow made history by winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the first-ever Oscar for a Latvian film. 

It also earned a nomination for Best International Feature Film, a rare double honor for an animated movie.

34 A Boost for Latvian Cinema

The success of Flow sparked new excitement in Latvia’s film industry. 

Investors began showing greater interest in local animation projects, and national film agencies reported more conversations about supporting Latvian talent on the global stage. 

35 Where to Watch Flow

Flow is currently available on Amazon Prime as well as on DVD, BluRay, and 4K.

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Final Thoughts

Which of these facts about Flow surprised you the most?

Drop your favorite in the comments, and don’t forget to share these fun insights with your friends!

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