Rewatch: The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Continuing my alternate timelines streak, I rewatched The Butterfly Effect, a 2004 psychological thriller supernatural fiction movie by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart.

Evan Treborn, a college student, discovered he could time travel when he read journal entries around the time he had blackouts during childhood. But when he makes slight changes during his time travel, it causes a massive change in his present, for the better or worse. Each huge difference also damages his brain, which might prevent him from traveling further. Can he make his life or those around him for the better?

Spoilers ahead.

Let me quote the article from Wikipedia: The butterfly effect is a concept that states, “small causes can have larger effects.” This is a staple on all-time travel or alternate timeline stories I encounter. I also like this kind of story; it makes me think of “what if” and its repercussions. Every small change must be considered, but sometimes, it is not feasible because of too many variables. When the main character, Evan, travels, he does not think things through. I know that he only has a small amount of time to affect the change, but, come on, when he decides to re-do things, he does so impulsively, thus affecting an even worse scenario. (“Affected much?”)

I realized I was watching the director’s cut when I rewatched this. It contains extra scenes and a different ending from the theatrical edition that I initially watched more than a decade ago. I preferred the end on this cut. Not every movie should always have a feel-good ending.

Quick rating:  (3.5 out of 5 stars. I very much like it.)

What’s next? I might rewatch Source Code (2011). More time travel!

: https://promdigeek.blog/2017/09/12/review-the-butterfly-effect-2004/