The Butterfly Effect
New Line Cinema | Release Date: January 23, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
30
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
14
Negative:
18
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The ending is weak, and may be the result of the filmmakers writing themselves into a corner and not wanting to conclude things in a burst of nihilistic excess. Yet, even though it's a cheat, it retains a degree of resonance. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Kutcher delivers a credibly serious performance as Evan, and he's surrounded by a skilled supporting cast. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There's so much flashing forward and backward, so many spins of fate, so many chapters in the journals, that after awhile I felt that I, as well as time, was being jerked around. Read full review
60
Film ThreatStaff (Not credited)
A terrific story, years in the making, that clearly stays true to the uncompromising vision of its creators. The results are on the screen. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
As a thriller, The Butterfly Effect is iffy and uneven, but as a portrait of a people, it's effective and intriguing. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Isn't a complete waste of time. If Kutcher seeks to transition from national joke to lightweight actor, he's made a decent stab at it. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
An entertaining piece of supernatural nonsense whose sheer audacity disarms all (well, nearly all) skepticism. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The film works best as an extended "Twilight Zone" episode. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Kutcher's performance isn't terrible, but the brilliant, bewildered, increasingly desperate Evan is the film's center, and grounding its flights of fantasy in rock-solid emotional reality is more than Kutcher can manage. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
In its own ridiculous way, The Butterfly Effect is an entertaining movie, despite mediocre acting, lackluster direction and a story that's sometimes frustrating. It has the integrity of camp, maintaining an odd earnestness in the face of its own absurdity. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Somewhere, back in the mists of time, co-writers Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber must have flapped their gums in the fond hope of crafting a script; today, that whisper of hot air has swollen into a feature flick that rains down upon us a veritable torrent of inane plot. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Better than you might expect despite its awkward, slow beginning, drawing you in gradually and paying off in surprisingly effective and bittersweet ways. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Unpleasantness alone doesn't sink a movie. But miserable tidings intensify when there's not only a high ick factor but also floundering storytelling. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
With a surprisingly unhappy, anti-Hollywood ending that will appeal to those who like things dark. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Ashton Kutcher wants to be taken seriously so badly it hurts. So does this metaphysical mess of a movie, a pseudo time-travel drama so complicated it takes more than half an hour just to establish the gimmick. And a gimmick it is. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Kutcher is the wrong actor to anchor a psychological freak-out. Read full review
40
EmpireAngie Errigo
Arguably worse than its sadistic absurdity is the depressing, limited scope. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Profoundly knuckleheaded. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
So consistently silly and overwrought that it flirts with the elusive so-bad-it's-entertaining category. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
So, here's the problem with The Butterfly Effect: It's silly. Read full review
30
VarietyTodd McCarthy
This overwrought and egregiously self-serious thriller about the poisonous fruit borne of child abuse grows more ridiculous by the quarter-hour and is poised for a theatrical life span scarcely longer than that of its eponymous insect. Read full review
30
Village VoiceDennis Lim
You have to, if not love, at least not mind a movie in which the very act of Ashton Kutcher reading is enough of a cosmic trauma to rip a hole in the fabric of space-time. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
My advice? Grab Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine and recast with Jimmy Dean. Read full review
30
SlateMichael Agger
Impressively sets a new standard for time travel gone awry. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Abysmal thriller. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
If you approach this movie in the right frame of mind -- that is, with total contempt -- you can still enjoy it as a comedy. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
As soon as I finish writing this review, I'm going to try traveling a few hours in the past. That way, I can improve my life by skipping this movie! Read full review
25
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A film of singularly boneheaded conceits, Butterfly is populated by, and appears to have been made by, stoned college dudes more hung up on oh-wow twists than the need to make sense. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Nothing can save this repetitive bore. Dude, where's your memory? Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
A bad-movie-lover's heaven, and a good-movie-lover's hell. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
An undercooked allusion to chaos theory -- gives every appearance of having been conceived, planned and executed out of a high school locker room. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
As the requisite love interest, Amy Smart gives the film's only professional performance, while co-star Eric Stoltz, as the story's villain, walks somnolent through the scenery with what seems to be barely suppressed mirth. Given the deeply unpleasant plot machinations and amateurish direction, the actor's amusement is understandable. Read full review
20
SalonCharles Taylor
It's like receiving a box of Valentine's chocolates in which someone has deliberately hidden ground glass. Flee. Read full review
10
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Inhabited by a genuine spirit of cruelty, both toward its characters and its audience. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
It's a terrible life, and a terrible movie.
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