User reviews

So many themes to reflect upon depending on your perspectives but we can all recognise the race, the travel, the journey, with its fables, foes and friendships - who needs Pixar!

An eerie, dreamy animated film which showcase the extra amazing talent of a single person, Gints Zilbalodis. If you are a movie maniac and always trying to discover something new and different, this is a must watch.

A boy finds himself tangled in a paracute in a forest. He gets down. He discovers a hulking, black figure that will follow him, a little yellow bird that will accompany him, and a motorcycle he will ride across an island which seems populated only by cats, bird, and tortoises across an island that clearly was once inhabited but now has been abandoned by people.

Who is he and how did he get there? We don't know and are never told. There is clearly a spiritual component to this journey, but that is never clarified; we simply watch him make the journey. Clearly we, as the audience, are to assign meaning to these actions, his origins, these clearly physical beings with murky, metaphoric meanings.

I'm sure Gints Zilbalodis knows at some level. This Latvian film maker did everything in this animated feature but help on the accounting and be the press attache in France. But since he didn't say clearly he wants us to make up our own minds about this journey.

If you aren't familiar with Gints Zibalodis's art style, I can very much see others get taken aback by how the film appears. Because it doesn't look like anything else you've seen before, unless you played a couple indie developed videogames. Incredible work from being the only dude who worked on it.

Maybe the next Angel's Egg, except more pleasant of an experience. Away wears mood, serenity, and potential symbolism all on its sleeves. Not in the pretentious sense though, moreso achieves having the audience remember an artists name.

Hypnotic from when it starts to where it ends, doesn't waste any potential with a strong hour an fifteen minute runtime. Every second feels deserved thanks to the stunning visuals, and breathtaking score.

Not a single word. Only music and sounds fill th ears while the narration of the frames and the imagery pull us forward. Does it work? If the fact that I took my 8 year old son who has never seen a silent film nor "art house" film before is any indication, this a beaming film of success. It's beautiful and full of emotion and expressive of so much that we have all known, faced or overcome in life or our very dreams. It is a powerful film that will surely leave a laying imprint on our family for years. Thank you.

If you have been a while in the movie business and on IMDB you'll find certain patterns when it comes to movie critics and how they rate certain kind of movies. The 'artistical arthouse emotional short-animated metaphorical movie' is - be it on youtube, netflix or any other platform - one of the biggest darlings of those critics. It really doesn't take much for this genre to get called 'Masterpiece' and rated 10/10.

'Away' is a classical example of this pattern. While its respectable that one single person created this movie and its far from bad or boring, there's just not much here in terms of consistency. We have neither a story nor characters that tell us anything about them, and while clear inspirations like the video game 'Journey' build up similar settings, 'Away' is far, far inferior when it comes to the emotional impact or the creativity of the different steps from beginning to end. Most of the metaphors made or explained by wine-drinking critics here could be seen in the movie, but thats about it, they could be there. Theres just not enough to tell.

This movie is unfortunately not entertaining in any moment. It's hard to not fall asleep at times, and there's really not much happening over the whole span expect a boy traveling from A to B. If all of this is metaphors I can respect that because it works in some movies, but if I can only enjoy a movie if I enjoy its few, shallow metaphors, its just not a good movie. It needs something else, and I certainly dont need a movie like 'Away' to tell me we are running rom Death.

The optics are passable at best and the music is dreamy, atmospheric, but nothing that sticks. There are some interesting moments in this journey, but overall, a complete lack of something fresh or new.

The ending reflects to that because there is none, and while our intellectual critic-overlords would explain this as the good, ol' 'Open to interpretation', I just see it as the lack of any idea how to end this empty shell of a movie.

I appreciated the No Dialogue-choice, but that too has been done better (See 'The Red Turtle'...)

It's not a terrible movie, dont get me wrong, just completely empty and void of anything creative or entertaining. At least its not loo long, but it feels stretched out at times.

Is it worth your time? Well, if mediocre animations, some nice dreamy picture book-moments and shallow metaphors are enough to make your day, go for it.

I would recommend this to everyone. Contains valuable insights on life which really resonate... how to conquer our fears, to push ourselves or allow our souls to wither away by just fearing all the negative outcomes; how helping others can end up saving us. Also loved the animation style and music. Picture worth a thousand words done right!

While I applaud this is all one person that did the score, story, and the animation...its not enough. The animation could have been better. The story could have strayed from taking painfully long in some areas, which I believe was done because there was really not a lot of story here. Some of this story is up for interpretation, but its ultimately just a short uneventful journey with a few moments of interest sprinkled in. I do not regret watching it...I liked the bird. But I would not recommend it either.

Another reviewer said something about a video game. I have to agree. This would have been much better served as a VR title so at least I could have looked around. Most video games have better animation than this.

Truly a uniquely inspiring film, Away captures a delicate balance between immense intricacy and sheer minimalism with ease and sustains it for the entirety of the film. This harmony exists in every aspect of the production and makes for an extremely satisfying time. I can't wait to own a copy and watch it many more times for years to come. If you get an opportunity to see a screening then do it! You won't regret it.

I am a huge animation enthustiast, but this just didn't work for me, as it seems incomplete work from all aspects. The whole movie is based on an idea of a boy escaping from dark creature and to spice it up a bit, he has a bird friend. That's literally all the movie. Very poor for a feature movie I would say. Specially for animated one where the sky is the limit where you can go with ideas. Also, the animation is bad. I like minimalistic style, but here, everything seems just like a forced experiment of one guy to do an animated feature film.

When I sat in the cinema watching the first chapter, frankly, I was not very much impressed. I was curious to see the film, as it was done by my fellow countryman, but being unfamiliar with any other works of Gints Zibalodis, the animation style looked like of an old videogame and the beginning seemed way too slow and boring... BUT! As the story was progressing, I became more and more invested in it.

This animation film is about a boy, who finds himself alone on a dreamy island, pursued by a surreal monster consuming every living creature on his way. The boy tries to run away from the monster and find his way back home.

To begin with, viewers need to acknowledge that the plot is something of secondary importance in this film - like in Virginia Woolf's novels, it is simple, abstract and unconventionally conventional. Even though there is a good amount of action, high-tension and even heartbreaking scenes, Away is more like a meditation on life and loneliness without any complicated plot twists. By the end of the film, many questions are left unanswered, such as why the monster couldn't get the boy in the oasis etc. However, it is that kind of metaphorical story that makes you step away from hectic reality and reflect on what you have just seen on the screen.

I have mentioned before that the animation did not impress me right from the start. Zibalodis used an old-fashioned, 2D technique, which may be off-putting at first, but, still, the film has absolutely marvellous scenery. The landscapes were captivating and reminded me of Japanese anime. Even the lack of graphic details on the characters does not prevent you from caring for them. The score was captivating and created just the right atmosphere - the music said all that needed to be said, even without dialogues.

Overall, the film turned out to be a real hidden gem. It is beautiful, inspiring and unique. Zibalodis did a brilliant job and, shockingly, all by himself. Definitely worth watching!

The story is nonexistent, but I can understand that as an experiment. Everything seems to be written for a videogame (up to the main character going through "checkpoints"), but I can accept someone trying to mix different medias to see what it comes through. This didn't worked for me already, but ok.

The "minimalism" someone is referring too, is not such thing. If the only problem with the visuals was the lack of depth and texture I would accept it as an artistic choice. The crappy animation that would be bad for 30 year old movie or a 15 year old videogame, the terrible physics of everything... Makes clear that it's not an artistic choice but inability to make something that gets close to decent.

This looks in every aspect as an unfinished product or, more probably, a 3D storyboard to make someone undesrtand what they intent to make. The only explanation for the rating (and it's perfectly possible seeing the number of votes), is that it has been rated by working crew, friends and family members.

Fear is what keeps up back ! Don't let it ! . keep pushing till you reach your goal ! One of the best movies I've seen in a long time (:

I at first was confused, but I stuck with it to the very end. Beautiful to watch. The music is a little daunting and I kept preparing myself for something bad to happen. And I kept rooting for the boy to keep going. Never figured out what the big guy was. The creatures the boy encountered on his journey are delightful. I will watch this again. The animation is so beautifully done, it is breathtaking. I don't understand why this review has to have so many characters. I would have to give out spoilers to fill all spaces needed. I hope I can find a way to purchase a DVD of this so I can watch it again whenever I want.

If you are a person who likes to in your face story then this movie might be a bit boring for you. For me it was a great movie. The animation is just a great blend of simplistic but the clean and effortless flow marked it awesome. If you are looking for what the message of the movie is then just imagine the main character being in every character you see in the movie. The movie is basically a story about life, struggles and death. The main character needs to experience all of them before the story is over. I see the story as the boy's journey through limbo. The only point I can take from this is that I wanted more. Honestly I want a bit more.

This is definitly a movie for relaxing and chilling on a cold day with a cup of tea and some crumpets. Enjoy.

This is a very, very good movie. I didn't want to watch it at first because it's animated and there's no real dialogue. It didn't take more than 5 minutes for me to get sucked in, and I'm glad I did. This movie is a gem!

Away is a calm, meditative and beautiful animated film with an impressive atmosphere.

Without even speaking 1 word, the film says so much and leaves a lot of scope for your own interpretations. In addition, there is the wonderful art style with super minimalistic animations that give the film a unique atmosphere. The score is just as grandiose as it is beautiful, and underlines the breathtaking pictures in a masterful way.

The amazing thing is that the Latvian director Gints Zilbalodus made the film completely by himself.

This is Gintz Zilbalodis' latest work but it's his first fully feature length animated film, I like his shorts they are pretty good l, although I am emphasising in that his films are very pretty but also the shorts themselves are.... good but kind of hard to follow, although the standouts are Priorities and Aqua, the rest are good but nothing amazing.

Now with this film.., this is probably his best film yet, keep in mind he did all of this by himself, which is really impressive and requires a lot of effort, the animation itself is just fantastic, along with a VR feel to it where it feels like we are following the boy and the little bird, the two main characters are rather simple and cute but the boy is quite interesting, he has one simple goal which is to get home along with helping any animals and try to survival, the story telling maybe straight forward but it's rather complex and deep, it's epic and pretty suspenseful, I will admit at times it did get a little boring and a bit lost, but those are just nitpicks.

Look it's no Wolfwalkers or anything but..., this was a truly nice experience, Away is Gint's relaxing animated Magnum Opus , the animation is gorgeous, it's epic and suspenseful, it's simple yet deep, the two main characters while not very developed are cute and likeable, the music is also really well done also, the fact he did all this himself is just amazing, do check this film out even if you are not a fan of his work or if you haven't seen any of it, it's still really good on it's own, this is the best film from the guy and I can't wait to see what he does next.

I'm going to give Away 10/10.

Anachronistic, divers and spiritually abstract in a symbolic style consistent with artistic creativity.

The good vs evil thematic emphasis triggers a deep emotional response that empowers the viewer to assimilate the totality of meaning in a sombre but inspiring and thematic conclusion.

Most suited to Guardian readers especially.

Zibalodis is such a talent! It's unbelievable he created all of it, including the music score, by himself. And we can clearly see that the work he had done for over three years definitely paid off.

We can see a world resembling ours with all the nature elements ever existing: there are tropical oases, deserts, a geyser, mountain ranges, rivers, forests, seas and even an avalanche. Those constitute an impeccable background for the main characters, a boy and his new friend, a little yellow bird. Together, they are trying to escape something they believe is dangerous but as the story progresses, we understand that their friendship is the main focus of this beautiful animation film.

Amazing work! Not to be missed!

What a Trip! Unpredictable! Fascinating! Supriseing. Suspenceful. Simply brillant. Well done. What a Talent from Lituania! Looking forward to his next works. And I like to see all his old Animation pieces. Where would that be?

Handheld Animation! What a great idea. Never Seen that before. It makes the whole thing more lively while it is very simply drawn. Wich works perfectly.

This should be on Netflix oder Disney! Studio Ghibli should hire this Guy right AWAY! I found it on some free German Film Webportal after searching for it for a long long Time!

This should be out there for everybody to see!