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The Butterfly Effect

Play trailer 2:25 Poster for The Butterfly Effect R 2004 1h 53m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
34% Tomatometer 169 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
College student Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) is afflicted with headaches so painful that he frequently blacks out. While unconscious, Evan is able to travel back in time to difficult moments in his childhood. He can also alter the past for friends, like Kayleigh (Amy Smart), who was molested by her father (Eric Stoltz). But changing the past can drastically alter the present, and Evan finds himself in nightmarish alternate realities, including one where he's locked away in prison.
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The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect

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Critics Consensus

The premise is intriguing, but it's placed in the service of an overwrought and tasteless thriller.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/28/2010
1/5
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. So very bad. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Crocker BBC.com 04/13/2004
2/5
Lobotomised entertainment that's dark, violent, and hilariously dumb. Go to Full Review
Peter Travers Rolling Stone 01/29/2004
1/4
Nothing can save this repetitive bore. Dude, where's your memory? Go to Full Review
Luke Buckmaster Flicks (AU, NZ, UK) 05/21/2024
This film is so gut-wrenchingly dark and twisted I’d also call it a horror movie, with virtually no respite once its core premise swings into gear. Go to Full Review
James Croot The Post NZ 01/12/2022
3/5
Wildly uneven and not exactly high-quality entertainment, The Butterfly Effect has, nonetheless, weirdly turned out to be strangely memorable, especially for certain generation of moviegoers. Go to Full Review
C.H. Newell Father Son Holy Gore 05/05/2019
3.5/5
The Butterfly Effect looks at the power of memory, the repercussions of events from our past that bleed into the present. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Igor S Oct 30 I watched this movie again, after about 15-20 years, and maybe i'm older, more demanding/critical with the movies i watch, but it wasn't as good as i remembered it to be. It is full of forced, incredibly poorly acted scenes, that i almost turned it off. It is also very dark and depressing. Having said that, it it gets better as it goes, and the concept, as well as some of the elements are really good, making it still worth watching in my opinion. It became a classic with audiences for a reason. Plus, one thing i didn't notice when i was younger and this was of my favourite movies, is that, although slammed with a hammer throughout the movie, the overall theme of the movie is more about trauma, the negative chain that it can cause in people's lives, and how 1 small decision can bring a completely different outcome. Maybe back then, the much younger me was so focused on the cool sci-fi/time travel aspects of the movie that i ignored its main theme. See more Miguel S. @Michelangelo Oct 29 Like every year I see this movie since it came out, I love it, it's my all-time favorite. See more Matthew L. @Moviefanatic02 Oct 28 Great movie all around. Don’t care what the haters say! See more Alexander S Oct 20 The Butterfly Effect is a uniquely strange film that works to its advantage, particularly with Ashton Kutcher's dramatic performance, which will intrigue some audiences and leave others feeling it's a bit corny. Nevertheless, I found the film intriguing. Grading: B See more Michael G Oct 7 Critics get off on being controversial but honestly just read half their reviews and you can see where they like on the IQ charts 😂 This movie is a staple in its years and it is definitely a classic I have only heard good things about it from countless people. It surrounds the main character having memory deficits that present from blackouts. The character grows up around damaging conditions to anyone in their early to adolescent development years and the audience sees the impact and direction it leads characters down in their lifes. To help with his memory the main uses a tracking method in attempt to fix the issue and finds a power in remembering that leads the movie through the importance of every decision and how it may impact our life trajectory. It is one of a kind in this area of psychological thrillers but leans towards the psychological portion. It is very interesting to think about and makes you think how we as humans are imperfect and sometimes dwell on our past mistakes and forget to capitilize in the present. Do things really happen for a reason in our lives and can you guarantee correcting a mistake will lead you to a better future? See more Nathan A. @Notnathan Sep 26 This movie doesn’t get the love it deserves See more Read all reviews
The Butterfly Effect

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Movie Info

Synopsis College student Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) is afflicted with headaches so painful that he frequently blacks out. While unconscious, Evan is able to travel back in time to difficult moments in his childhood. He can also alter the past for friends, like Kayleigh (Amy Smart), who was molested by her father (Eric Stoltz). But changing the past can drastically alter the present, and Evan finds himself in nightmarish alternate realities, including one where he's locked away in prison.
Director
Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Producer
Chris Bender, A.J. Dix, J.C. Spink, Anthony Rhulen
Screenwriter
Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Distributor
New Line Cinema
Production Co
Blackout Entertainment, Benderspink, Katalyst Films, Film Engine
Rating
R (Language|Brief Drug Use|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 23, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$57.7M
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
Surround, DTS, Dolby SRD, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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