Flow: parents' guide
Best for ages 7 and up. Rated PG for peril and thematic elements.
A wordless, gorgeous animated survival story for patient kids and adults, following a cat who rides out a world-drowning flood on a boat with a dog, a capybara, a lemur and a secretary bird. With no dialogue, there is nothing to worry about in language, romance or substances. The concern is near-constant peril: Cat comes close to drowning several times, rough storms threaten to wash animals overboard, and the flood is never explained. One bird is attacked by its own flock for protecting Cat, and a large animal appears to die near the end. The sustained danger is why we suggest 7.
What's in it
Violence
MildAnimal conflict rather than combat: secretary birds fight in midair and the flock injures one bird's wing, dogs snarl and scuffle, and fish are caught and die. Nothing graphic.
Language
NoneNone. The film has no dialogue at all, only animal sounds.
Sex and nudity
NoneNo romance, kissing or nudity of any kind; the story is purely about animal survival.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
NoneNo drinking, smoking or drugs; there are no humans in the film.
Scary or intense scenes
ModerateSustained peril: a rushing flood swallows the land, storms batter the boat, and Cat nearly drowns several times. An eerie, unexplained sequence lifts a character into the sky, and a beached whale appears to die as Cat stays beside it.
Sensitive topics
- Animal death
Worth talking about
The animals survive only by learning to trust and help one another. Why can it be hard to rely on others, and when is it worth the risk?
On our lists
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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, Rotten Tomatoes, movieguide.org, the MPA. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.