What’s it rated? PG
When? 2024
Where’s it showing? Max
Latvian Gints Zilbalodis (Away) directs this two-time Oscar-nominated animated feature he co-wrote with Matiss Kaza and Ron Dyens about a group of disparate animals trying to survive a flood. There’s no dialogue at all, just incredibly beautiful animation and visual storytelling about animals that would normally be at odds with one another learning to live in harmony and behave altruistically.
The film begins by focusing on a cat that lives a seemingly solitary existence in the forest. There are signs of human life, but no humans. Is this a post-human world? In an early scene that’s repeated near the film’s end, the cat sees its reflection in the water, suggesting the dawning of self-awareness. To save itself from the flood, the cat jumps on a boat with a lethargic capybara. Later they’re joined by a ring-tailed lemur, a perpetually cheerful Labrador retriever, and a white secretary bird.
Despite its themes of cooperation between competing species, the animals still act like animals rather than anthropomorphized cartoons, and though the film is emotionally impactful, it’s not sentimental. It’s nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Animated Feature Film, and I won’t be a bit surprised if it wins both. It’s gorgeous. (85 min.) Ī
This article appears in Weddings 2025.