The Butterfly Effect

Name: The Butterfly Effect
Director: J. Mackye Gruber
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
Released: 2004-01-17
Rating: 7.4

January 17, 2004· 1h 53m

Science Fiction Thriller

Directed by

J. Mackye Gruber Eric Bress

Cast

Ashton Kutcher Amy Smart Melora Walters Elden Henson William Lee Scott Eric Stoltz +48 more ↓

Cinemagraphs Score7.4

A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.

Audience Sentiment

Overall7.4

1 — Hated it5 — Neutral10 — Masterpiece

Critics

8+ Great

6-8 Good

<6 Poor

17 reviews·Last updated 7d ago

Peak Moment

Final timeline sacrifice

8.7at 1h 40m

Lowest Moment

How does it end?

5.8at 1h 49m

Biggest Swing

The ending sequence drops significantly as reviewers widely panned the theatrical cut's 'happy ending' despite praising the director's cut alternative

The Butterfly Effect builds strong audience engagement through its clever time travel premise and Kutcher's surprisingly effective dramatic performance, reaching emotional peaks during the mental hospital sequence and Evan's final sacrifice. However, the film is significantly damaged by its theatrical ending, which most reviewers found disappointingly conventional compared to the darker director's cut.

17 reviews analyzed|Sources: Imdb, Tmdb