Cat is a solitary creature, but when his woodland home is devastated by a great flood, he is obliged to seek allies in the animal kingdom in Gints Zilbalodis’s animated and dialogue-free adventure for all ages, a captivating, utterly disarming film that has been gathering awards ever since its rapturously received Cannes premiere in 2024. Cat soon finds refuge on a boat populated by various species – an excitable Labrador, a drowsy capybara, a materialistic lemur, and a gallant secretary bird – and will have to team up with them despite their differences in order to survive in this newly hostile environment. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world. Notes by David O’Mahony.

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