The family gathers at the dinner table. One candle. Outside, thunder—a storm, or distant guns? They don’t know. Larry reads a passage from his new manuscript: “And so we lived, foolish and brave, on the edge of a war we refused to see coming. That was our magic. That was our curse.”

“Do flamingos know they’re pink?”

In a beautiful, heartbreaking montage, Gerry opens every cage. The flamingos fly. The tortoise walks into the olive grove. Ulysses the owl perches on the villa roof and refuses to leave. “He’s staying,” Gerry whispers. “He’s a Durrell.”

The family splits. Larry wants to stay and fight with words. Leslie wants to join the Greek resistance. Margo is terrified of leaving Marco. Gerry only cares about releasing his animals into the wild so they won’t starve.

“No. That’s why they’re happy.”

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