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Butterfly Jam

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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57

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

RELEASE DATE: TBA

Butterfly Jam

Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: TBA | Not Rated

Summary: 16 years old Pyteh splits his time between the wrestling mat and his family’s struggling Circassian diner in Newark. A single impulsive decision by his hustling father changes the course of his life, shaping a tale of pride, legacy, and masculinity.

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 102 min

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Metascore

Critic Reviews

90

The Film Verdict Clarence Tsui

May 14, 2026

Balagov‘s latest outing is a warm, colour-saturated and sporadically magical and comical family drama set in a tightly-knit community in Newark, but with tension and trauma looming ever close on its seemingly happy-go-lucky protagonists. Read full review

67

IndieWire David Ehrlich

May 14, 2026

It’s only once Butterfly Jam seems doomed to repeat the same dark fatalism of Balagov’s earlier work that it suddenly affirms itself as the bittersweet fable that it’s been all along. Read full review

60

The Irish Times

Donald Clarke

May 14, 2026

The film is very much about male discomfort with tenderness, and Keoghan neatly communicates his internal conflicts in a mature performance. Keough continues to make her case for being one of the era’s great chameleons. Read full review

60

Variety

Guy Lodge

May 14, 2026

Balagov, however, remains the star attraction of “Butterfly Jam,” his fluent, adventurous command of sound and image keeping the film interesting even when not much is happening on screen, and tangibly atmospheric when the narrative pendulum swings too far in the other direction. Read full review

50

The Film Stage Rory O'Connor

May 14, 2026

Butterfly Jam is usually at its best whenever Keough is in the room, and the rare moments in which her and Keoghan’s performances click perhaps offer a glimmer of what might have been. Read full review

50

Screen Daily

Jonathan Romney

May 14, 2026

An uneven mix of melodrama, eccentricity and hyper-male boisterousness never entirely convinces. Read full review

30

Next Best Picture Cody Dericks

May 14, 2026

Balagov is a fearless filmmaker, unafraid of showing what many directors would avoid. And while that uncompromising spirit has served him well in the past, here it seems that some self-imposed guidelines would’ve spared him from crafting something so purposelessly unpleasant. Read full review

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