Faithspotting "Flow"

Mike and Kenny review the animated adventure film Flow, spot and discuss the faith themes reflected in the Latvian film that won the 2025 Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film. Directed by Gints Zilbalodis, and taking over 5 years to make, Flow was made by using the free and open source software Blender. 

Flow follows a cat, a capybara, a ring-tailed lemur, a secretary bird and a labrador retriever who find refuge together in a small boat following a massive flood that covers most of the land around them. 

Praised for its wonderful and unique visuals and aninmation, Flow is able to communicate the story through the visuals and animal as well as other sound effects. 

Flow is streaming on HBO Max.

Faith Spotted:

The use of a boat to usher animals safely through a sudden flood echoes that story of Noah and the Ark. In addition the story uses the road narrative to present a community gathered and working together despite differences to  survive amids great challenges and dangers. The different instincts and abilities of the animals serve to help them and the community survive. As with people of differeing nationalities, faiths, and cultures, the Christian faith calls for care of and for one another, and living into what unites, all peopel are children of God, rather than separates persons, nations, and faiths and communities. 

All of the animals showed faith in taking the chance to get in the boat and leave their home and native areas. The cat shows the faith necessary to make changes that go against it's instinct to swim so as to catch fish for itself and provide for the other animals. 

The boat is an early symbol for the work of the Church. Jesus often taught from or used boats in his ministry. Likewise the church is sent into the chaotic waters of a broken world to offer refuge, new hope, new life.

Not mentioned in the episode but certainly a faith element is the presenation of the whale. Several times a whale appeared to save the cat, and later the other animals when their boat got caught up in trees. The Whale (great fish) was used as an insturment of God to rescue and deliver Jonah to the city of Nineveh, where his message of judgement inspired the city to repent, receive grace, and not be destroyed by God. 

Depending on how one reads or interprets the film, there is a presenation of eternal, resurrection life, as well as an act of sacraficial love by two of the animals.