The Great Flood is the kind of movie where the review feels nearly impossible to write when you sit down to actually write it. Because how am I supposed to fully explain how terrified this movie made me feel while also emphasizing that it’s one of the strongest representations of boundless love between a mother and child that I have ever seen. And it’s all set in the middle of a flood with a sci-fi twist that feels as if Inception was about motherhood instead of influence and dreams.
At the heart of the story is An-na (Kim Da-mi) and her son Ja-in (Kwon Eun-sung). On the surface it’s clear that An-na is struggling raising Ja-in. She’s a single mom and whatever help she had is now gone. It feels honest and grounded in the pain that comes with losing stability but still having to be a stable presence in your child’s life. Things take a turn for the worst when Anna wakes up to a flooded apartment and her job telling her that they’re going to come and pick her up. Along the way to the roof she meets Hee-jo (Park Hae-soo) and you’re clued in that there’s something so wrong with this picture.
This is where the spoilers come in. So stop if you don’t want to know more.
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The Great Flood isn’t a film so much about a natural disaster. It’s a story about the perseverance of the human spirit before the flood and after it. And while I think that the flood itself is really well done, the struggle that An-na goes through as she tries to balance her responsibilities and survival, is what keeps this film going. But what really tore my heart out in The Great Flood is when you realize that there is a number on An-na’s shirt and that it keeps going up the more you watch. Because this isn’t one linear timeline or An-na’s having a trippy dream. An-na is reliving this moment over and over again in a simulation.
In a lot of ways, I will say I didn’t enjoy the AI aspect of The Great Flood. But it’s an inevitable part of the world that we live in now. And the great flood managed to find a balance where it’s not the AI telling the story. It’s this mother telling the story. It’s also this son telling the story, who absolutely broke me when it was revealed that he had been drawing the last thing he saw over and over again aka his mother. And it’s a story about a love that is more powerful than the end of the world and life itself.
Also, when I say that The Great Flood is like if Inception was about motherhood, I do want to clarify some things. I’m very aware that they are two completely different movies. But at the heart of Inception is the love a father holds for his children. And he’s willing to go to the depths of his mind and those of others get back home. That’s what I saw An-na doing in The Great Flood. There’s also the added fact that these two filmsare the best kind of sci-fi, the kind that is grounded not in the technology but in the humanity that persists and thrives despite all the technological changes.
That’s what makes great sci-fi; our humanity and our ability to grow, learn from our mistakes, and try and try again. That’s what The Great Flood is about and that’s what these actors brought to life in this unforgettable Netflix movie that everyone needs to watch because it’s not about a flood. That’s the smallest part of the story and almost forgettable when you’re faced with such talented actors, storyline, and set design.
The Great Flood is now available on Netflix.
