The Butterfly Effect (2004)
★★★★½ — The Butterfly Effect (2004)
The Butterfly Effect was the feature debut of writers Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, who had previously collaborated on the screenplay for Final Destination 2 (2003). Shot largely in Vancouver and making use of Canada's production tax incentives, the film was produced through Ashton Kutcher's own Katalyst Films alongside BenderSpink, giving it an independent flavour despite a reasonably comfortable $13 million budget. That budget proved a shrewd investment, with the film returning nearly $97 million at the worldwide box office, a genuine surprise for a dark, high-concept thriller releasing in early 2004. The title borrows from chaos theory (the notion that a small action in one place can trigger large consequences elsewhere), and the film sits comfortably within the early 2000s wave of mind-bending, reality-shifting genre pictures that followed in the wake of Memento and Donnie Darko.
Hugely underrated film. I cannot tell you how much I love the premise of this film. Whenever I see time travel through consciousness rather than physically jumping in a time machine I'm thoroughly hooked. Amy Smart and Ashton Kutcher have this amazing chemistry. The story is so beautifully written, interwoven with this melancholic, almost smothering feeling that no matter what... something just isn't right. The further and further Evan goes to try to fix things... the worse they get, until he ultimately sacrifices his life (the original darker ending on the special edition DVD anyway. The soundtrack is SO perfectly chosen for this film. It's an absolute masterpiece to be honest. It's so moving and emotional. You can FEEL this movie. Definitely on the must-watch pile. I very nearly put this at 5*. The only reason I didn't is because it's not one of those films you can watch over and over.
Rating: ★★★★½ | Year: 2004 | Watched: 2005-12-28
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Icon Film Amazon Channel · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK
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