The Butterfly Effect: About the level of quality you would expect from the guy who made Punk’d

Abbey Johnson

She/Her

Staff Writer

3/14/23

I have heard the term “butterfly effect” and its association with time travel for years now. However, I was completely unaware of the movie with the same title until two weeks ago. Upon discovering this movie, I sat down and turned on this apparently infamous film that I had just realized existed.  

Initially, the movie started incredibly slow combined with terrible acting. Being an Ashton Kutcher movie, one would think the acting would be at least average. However, the acting may be the scariest part of this thriller movie.   

The movie is based on Evan’s (Ashton Kutcher) power to be able to go back in time. Evan blacks out during traumatic moments in his childhood and does not remember a single thing that happens during those times. Throughout the film, this is a constant issue for Evan. Evan began seeing a therapist for his issue, and the therapist recommended he start journaling. According to the therapist, the journalling would help Evan remember what happened right before and after his blackouts. Evan journaled throughout his entire childhood, but eventually, his blackouts eventually ceased when he moved away in middle school.  

Flash forward to college, Evan now is six years clean of blackouts and went out to celebrate with friends. While traveling home, Evan began to look through his old journals and flashed back to a traumatic time. At first, Evan thought these flashbacks were just that, flashing back to memories of what happened. However, these flashbacks were Evan going back in time. Evan could go back in time and change what happened during his blackouts. While this ability allowed Evan to begin changing certain things in his past, this was not necessarily a good thing. When Evan came back to the present, he realized that what seemed to be a blessing may be a curse. When he changed things in the past, he effectively changed the present too.  

At this point in the film, the acting was still just as terrible, but the plot became good enough to finish the movie. The three strong side characters Kayleigh, Lenny, and Tommy were just alright. In the movie, the character Tommy was unbearable. Young Tommy was a horrendous person and loved to do horrible things that traumatized the rest of the characters. About 90% of the blackouts Evan had were the result of Tommy being psychotic. If you watch this movie and resonate with Tommy, get help. Kayleigh was a decent character but was an absolute bummer. While watching the movie, you honestly just feel horrible for her and her life story. Honestly, Lenny didn’t do much in the movie, but he annoyed me. His character was simply just there.  

Honestly, if you have NOTHING else to watch, then I would suggest maybe putting this film on. However, if you have the option to watch any other thriller movie, I would do that. I suggest movies such as The Prestige, Gone Girl, Shutter Island, or anything else. The movie was mediocre at best.