Today on Tele 5 there is a science fiction film with an excellent time travel concept. The thriller is thoroughly gripping, hard-hitting and tackles its subject consistently.
Note: We have published the following article in a similar form before and slightly changed it because of the TV broadcast.
With time travel films it is such a thing. Most of them, or at least a lot of them, are frustratingly illogical. Basically, time travel is illogical in itself, so when science fiction films employ a time travel concept, it must at least be self-contained. Butterfly Effect fulfils this requirement. Tonight the film is on Tele 5 at 11:25 p.m. We explain here what is so frightening and good about this 2000 work.
See the trailer for the sci-fi gem Butterfly Effect
The great time travel application in Butterfly Effect
Ashton Kutcher plays Evan, the lead in the thriller. Evan is college-aged. As a child, he started writing diaries after some traumatising experiences. At some point he discovers that he can travel back in time by reading passages from the diary. He then returns to those exact events. If he changes something in the past, it triggers an increasing chain of deformations in the present. Hence the title: Butterfly Effect.
Butterfly Effect evolves into a surprisingly hard-hitting time travel horror
Butterfly Effect is ultimately about trauma processing. The destination of Evan’s travels is always his childhood. There he was part of a clique around Tommy, Lenny and Kayleigh. Tommy (Cameron Bright) turns out to be a child with psychopathic tendencies.
He and his sister Kayleigh grow up under an extremely abusive father. During this childhood, several pivotal events take place, some of them very shocking, which Evan turns around. He gets caught in a vortex and realises that there is no perfect future.
Whatever he does, it has terrible consequences. Butterfly Effect is much harder and more consistent in this respect than comparable genre films such as Back to the Future. Fans of time travel films should not miss it. Or rediscover it, which is also a great experience.
By the way, if you don’t have time to watch Butterfly Effect on TV, you can also stream the film right now on Netflix with a subscription.
