Wild Inside

Name: Wild Inside
Duration: 1 h 36 min

1hr 36m

1hr 36m

Flaco, a captive-raised Eurasian eagle-owl, escaped NYC's Central Park Zoo in 2023. The largest owl species worldwide, he'd lived there 13 years since being a… More Details »

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Movie Info & Cast

Release Date:

Jul 31, 2026

Runtime:

1hr 36m

Synopsis

Flaco, a captive-raised Eurasian eagle-owl, escaped NYC's Central Park Zoo in 2023. The largest owl species worldwide, he'd lived there 13 years since being a fledgling before gaining fame through his wild adventures.

Moviegoers are saying

This thoughtful documentary about Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from Central Park Zoo and lived free in NYC for one year, divides audiences between those charmed by the bird's story and cynical birders who see it as misguided anthropomorphization. Director Penny Lane crafts a visually stunning film from crowdsourced footage that raises complex questions about freedom, captivity, and our relationship with urban wildlife, though some wish it dug deeper into the ethical implications.

Top Mentions

Tear-Jerker

Visually-Stunning

Thought-Provoking

Urban-Wildlife

Bittersweet

Nature-Documentary

Summary generated from the text of Atom User reviews

Letterboxd User Reviews

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RATINGS N/A FANS

Aug 5, 2026

the real New York superhero that can fly isn’t Spider-Man, it’s Flaco — RIP, sweet prince, wish you could have seen your movie projected on a big screen in the park, surrounded by all of your fans

33 Likes

Justin LaLiberty

Aug 2, 2026

NYC can really grind a person down, especially these days, but it also pretty regularly offers reminders that sometimes people don’t suck, too. And being in a roomful of people eager to remember one very special bird, including the filmmaker who put together this warm,…

24 Likes

cinemapoodle

Aug 3, 2026

Full disclosure: My BFF Suzanne Highland appears as one of the lone voices of reason in this doc, empathetic to the plight of Flaco but also being clear-eyed about the how humans have made life so difficult for wild animals in the city. Fuller disclosure: I am a NYC birder…

17 Likes

brcw
Aug 2, 2026

My best friend is Suzanne the Wild Bird Fund employee at the end, the one who got the call and had to find poisoned, full wingspan, dead Flaco on the concrete inside a building's entirely concrete inner courtyard. Suzanne is the reason I know about this documentary and…

17 Likes

sarahpaol

Jul 31, 2026

Saw myself??? on the big screen tonight!! I admire Penny Lane’s restraint for not using more of my footage but I do have to laugh that all of my subject matter expertise and hot takes ended up on the cutting room floor. I did get recognized after by someone at my screening…

20 Likes

Andrew

Aug 4, 2026

Riveting! Flaco was such a majestic creature and this documentary will leave you with lots to think about.

10 Likes

Mekulin85
Aug 3, 2026

His legs!! Food for thought

8 Likes

sylvia

Aug 5, 2026

I was in New York a lot the year Flaco was free, and I went with my girlfriend and our friends to visit him a bunch of times in central park. Every time we got eyes on him (or he had eyes on us), it was hard not to feel like we were witnessing an intelligent creature…

6 Likes

Nat

Aug 1, 2026

Thank you, Penny Lane, for showing me I was just another bratty daughter disrespecting her mom's love of Flaco. I'm reformed now. I love Flaco - particularly when he walked into puddles! I respect my mom's obsession!

6 Likes

Mackenzie