The Butterfly Effect (2004) | 
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| Writers: | J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress | ||
| Directors: | Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber | ||
The Butterfly Effect is a science fiction movie about time travel and the multiple universes theory of quantum mechanics.
Except that it isn't.
The main character is Evan Treborn who had a distinctly unpleasant childhood surrounded by some distinctly unpleasant characters. Key incident that is suppressed in his memory. Evan has blackouts, especially at times of stress, and cannot recall exactly what happens.
Later on Evan goes to college. Here he discovers that by creating his old journals and concentrating on them he can project himself back into the scene. Once there he can do things differently and see what would have happened.
This isn't just a fantasy. When Evan makes a different decision he really changes the universe. The results of one small change ripple through his life until they turn his present into a very different one. This is where the movie gets its name: a tiny change in the past can have a massive effect on the future. The film itself references chaos theory, personally I was reminded more of Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder.
Having realised that he has this power Evan naturally decides to exploit it. He goes back to his moments of decision and tries to "fix" things. As he does so more of the repressed memories are brought to life - and the future changes. Needless to say, these changes almost always end up making things worse so Evan feels compelled to go back and try yet again.
That's not exactly an original idea, however it is very nicely done. The film uses this device to explore the various lives that one person might live depending on the choices made and it's a fascinating montage. Some of the results are very dark, others humorous (these are the ones that are least effective).
Technically the film is competent without being exciting. Ashton Kutcher does a rather than better than expected job, the younger actors are impressive. The Butterfly Effect relies even more than most films on an intelligent script. Gruber and Bress do this well except when they try for comic relief which doesn't really work.
As a piece of hard SF The Butterfly Effect is a failure. No attempt is made to justify or explain the mechanism by which Evan can change the past. Is it something to do with multiple universes? Does he somehow have the ability to force the probability field to collapse in a different way? Or is he simply insane?
The movie simply ignores these questions because, appearances aside, the science fiction element is really secondary. It's simply the hook for an exploration of the way our decisions affect our future. The smallest decisions can be critical - yet we never know which choices will be the important ones nor what their effect will be.
If The Butterfly Effect has a message it is simply this: Don't play "what if?" with the past.