Where to watch Downtown Owl? All streaming options explored

Downtown Owl is a comedy movie with the theme of starting new in a small town. Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater have collaboratively directed the movie, with the screenplay written by Linklater himself. The movie is an adaptation of Chuck Klosterman's novel Downtown Owl: A Novel, published in 2008.

Downtown Owl first premiered on June 8, 2023, at the Tribeca Film Festival. Ten months later, on April 23, 2024, the movie was made available for streaming platforms on OTT platforms.

Distributed by Sony Pictures, Downtown Owl, is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Youtube. The movie is produced by Rabe and Linklater, along with Bettina Barrow and Rebecca Green in collaboration with production companies including Stage 6 Films, Kill Claudio, and Three Point Capital.

Vance Druid as seen in the movie (Image via Sony Pictures Releasing)

Downtown Owl is set back in 1983 and narrates the story of Julia, a depressed high school English teacher, who moves into the small fictional town of Owl, located in North Dakota. The synopsis of the movie on Sony Pictures reads:

"Avoiding life in Milwaukee, Julia Rabia (Lily Rabe), moves to the Reagan-era town of Owl, North Dakota for a temporary high school teaching job. But when Owl turns out to be a wonderland of second-string poets, smoldering Marlboro Men, and a social hierarchy that echoes high school, Julia isn’t sure if she’s come to town to get away from home or to find it."

Where to stream the movie?

Downtown Owl is available on Amazon Prime Video and Youtube in Ultra HD, for rent at $5.99 and to buy at $12.99. Viewers can also rent or buy Downtown Owl on Fandango at Home at the same price. However, the service is only available in the United States.

Viewers can stream Downtown Owl on Apple TV+ if they have a subscription. The standard cost of Apple TV+ is $9.99 per month after the end of the free trial for one week.

However, viewers will get a free three-month Apple subscription if they purchase any Apple product, including an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV. Apple TV+ subscription also comes with the Apple One bundle, which charges $19.94 per month.

What is the story of Downtown Owl?

Horace in the coffee shop (Image via Sony Pictures Releasing)

The story of Downtown Owl is set in 1983, based on a fictional town in North Dakota, named Owl. The story starts with a high school English teacher named Julia, suffering from depression, and a stranded husband, who makes her move into a small town, with very few people to give a new direction to her life. While in the same town, there lives an old man named Horace, who spends much of his time in the local coffee shops.

He spends lazy afternoons with other elder people, rolling dice to decide who pays for the coffee, talking about religion and politics, and reminiscing about the long-gone days. There is another character, a teenager named Mitch, who is the high school backup quarterback, who, despite being a star in the sport, feels depressed for reasons he doesn't even know.

Julia is running away from her past (Image via Sony Pictures Releasing)

These three characters, despite coming from very different backgrounds and age groups, are somewhere connected. While not teaching, Juli spends her free time hanging out in the local pubs, befriends Naomi, and meets a local celebrity named Vance Druid.

With a population of hundreds, the town seems completely cut away from the outside world. As winter falls, the town folks soon find themselves under a snow blizzard.

Who is in the cast of Downtown Owl?

Lily Rabe plays the role of Julia Rabia, the English high school teacher who moves to the remote fictional town of Owl to restart things in a new direction. Vanessa Hudgens plays the role of Naomi, a girl Julia befriends who loves hanging out at Yugo's.

Julia soon befriends the fun-loving Naomi (Image via Sony Pictures Releasing)

Edward Harris plays the role of Horace Jones, an elderly resident who spends most of his time at the local coffee shops, talking about the football teams of Owl back in his days. August Blanco, is in the role of the depressed high school teenager, Mitch Hrlicka, a star quarterback. Finally, Henry Golding plays the role of the local celebrity, Vance Druid.

Other supporting cast in Downtown Owl includes:

Jack Dylan Grazer as Eli Zebra
Finn Wittrock as Coach Laidlaw
Arianna Jaffier as Rebecca Grooba
James Craven as Marvin
Emma Halleen as Katie Hrlicka
Derek Hughes as Ken Jones
Arden Michalec as Tina

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Edited by Meenakshi Ajith