The Butterfly Effect

2004, Mystery & thriller, 1h 53m

172 Reviews 250,000+ Ratings

critics consensus

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

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The Butterfly Effect Photos

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Movie Info

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.

Rating:

R (Language|Brief Drug Use|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre:

Mystery & thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Producer:

Chris Bender, A.J. Dix, J.C. Spink, Anthony Rhulen
Writer:

Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Release Date (Theaters):

Jan 23, 2004 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Jul 6, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA):

$57.7M
Runtime:

1h 53m
Distributor:

New Line Cinema
Sound Mix:

Dolby SRD, SDDS, Surround, DTS
Aspect Ratio:

Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Ashton Kutcher
Evan Treborn

Amy Smart
Kayleigh Miller

Eric Stoltz
George Miller

William Lee Scott
Tommy Miller

Elden Henson
Lenny Kagan

Logan Lerman
Evan Treborn at 7

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for The Butterfly Effect

All Critics (172) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (114)

Full Review… Nell Minow Common Sense Media

Full Review… Jonathan Crocker BBC.com

Full Review… Peter Travers Rolling Stone

Full Review… Rex Reed Observer

Full Review… Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly

Full Review… Ed Gonzalez City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Full Review… James Croot Stuff.co.nz

Full Review… C.H. Newell Father Son Holy Gore

Full Review… David Nusair Reel Film Reviews

Full Review… Kevin Carr Fat Guys at the Movies

Full Review… Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed

Full Review… Rob Gonsalves eFilmCritic.com

View All Critic Reviews (172)

Audience Reviews for The Butterfly Effect

Oct 21, 2013

[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img]

Directors C Super Reviewer
Mar 22, 2013

Donnie Darko for dummies and prudes. I couldn't handle the extreme sexual and sadism content running through it within every character throughout the otherwise unique concept of flashback time-travel to change the outcome of the present (in negative ways that is) and Kutcher cannot act right with a freakout.

Max G Super Reviewer
Sep 12, 2012

A college student discovers he can go back in time and alter past events, but every change he makes brings about tragic unintended consequences in the new present. Pretty much "DONNIE DARKO for Dummies."

Greg S Super Reviewer
May 07, 2012

This only slightly touches on the real intriguing aspects of the butterfly effect. If they were to dive into head first you'd be looking at a really long movie, but it would be a definitive version. This movie confuses itself sometimes and doesn't make sense in other scenes. I liked the movie a little more at movies as it had a different ending than what became the directors cut. The central issue is the target audience, and the cast choices. The filmmakers turned this into a teenage based target film and that is one of the biggest flaws of the film. The intrigue of chaos theory was more interesting than this film and that's the real problem with this film. It's long and badly structured into this simple story about the girl and his friends. 19/03/2020

Brendan N Super Reviewer

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