8/10

I've never seen a film like this before. There are no humans depicted in the film and there is no dialog, only a variety of animal sounds which Wikipedia explains were created from recorded samples of real animals. The tinkling pulsating musical soundtrack blends into the background of the movie so tastefully that at first I didn't notice it was there. This is truly original work of cinematic art that deserves the accolades it received.

Stories about animals going on an incredible journey are a regular trope in the movies, but this one blends ingredients from adventure, fantasy, animation and science-fiction into a new form. At first I thought all the animals characters were rotoscoped (or similar) real animals that had their motions sampled and assembled to match the script, but articles explain that everything is animated using Blender software. Despite that, the motions and expressions of the animals are astonishingly realistic and it never falls into Disney style exaggeration.

What makes this movie so strangely and subtly different is the world where it takes place. At first you would assume it's all taking place on Earth in some unfamiliar foreign land, but the flood, earthquakes, statues, whales, vegetation, vortex and abandoned cities hint that perhaps this is some mythical world, or a parallel world, or perhaps it's not the planet Earth at all. The details don't matter though because the slightly off-kilter world contributes to the background sense of unease and mystery that runs through the movie.

This movie passed my revisit test, which is a praiseworthy achievement. I was thinking about it for days afterwards and I even rewatched parts of it to enjoy the strange atmosphere and to try and understand some of the unexplained events.

P.S. Being a 'cat person', I was worried about the ultimate fate of our main character. But it's only a minor spoiler to reveal that you don't have to worry too much, because although the cat almost expends his (her?) nine lives, most of the major characters come together in the end for a reflective moment.