The Butterfly Effect Ending Explained & Film Analysis

Explanation of the meaning of “The Butterfly Effect”

The ambiguous concept of “The Butterfly Effect” was defined by Edward Lorenz in his Chaos Theory, and says that even the flap of a light butterfly’s wing can lead to a typhoon on the other side of the world. At the same time, this is a reference to the work of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, an allusion to his work “And Thunder Rocked”. In one of the frames of the film, the viewer sees a poster “Bradbury University”.

The script for the film was “read to the core,” but for a long time no one took it to work. Actor Ashton Kutcher decided to invest his money in the production of the picture, becoming its producer. The film, with a budget of $ 13 million, earned about $ 100 million on screenings. Ashton Kutcher played the main role in the motion picture.

Development of the plot

Six-year-old boy Evan Treborn lives in an ordinary family with his mother. There are a lot of such families, but my father is being held in a psychiatric clinic. The mother watches with dismay the child’s unexplained memory lapses. She is very afraid that the boy has inherited his father’s illness. Doctors do not find any abnormalities in his brain. However, the doctor believes that such cases are a kind of reaction of the child’s psyche to stressful situations.

One day, a school teacher shows Evan’s mother a drawing he drew on the assignment “What will I become when I grow up.” A startled mother looks at a gruesome drawing in which a boy portrayed himself standing over bleeding people with a huge bloody knife in his hand. The child himself could not explain anything, he simply did not remember how he drew such a nightmare.

The boy lives in a difficult environment. He is tormented that he does not have a father, but all the guys do. Then the mother decides to arrange a meeting with them. After arranging at the clinic for her husband to receive sedative injections, she brings Evan on a date with his father. However, the man’s diseased brain suddenly fails, and he rushes to strangle his own son. The child is terrified, he has gotten a lot of stress again.

After a complete examination, the psychiatrist recommends that Evan keep a diary so as not to forget the main events that happen to him. He diligently follows the instructions of the doctor.

One day, his mother brought him to visit the neighbors, where brother and sister Tommy and Kelly grew up. But even here everything is not thankful to God. The father of the guys turned out to be a pervert filming an obscene video with the participation of his own children. Now Evan is in this nightmare too. Again he has memory lapses.

The boy became very attached to his new girlfriend Kelly, despite the obvious sadistic inclinations of her brother Tommy. Evan’s beloved dog dies at the hands of this young monster. Soon Tommy came up with the idea of ​​arranging a mailbox explosion, in which a woman with a small child perishes. After this eerie scene, Evan again lost his orientation in time.

The meaning of the movie Butterfly Effect

The mother can not stand the next attack of the child and moves with him to another city. At the same time, Evan is acutely experiencing separation from Kelly and promises to return for her.

The next seven years passed like lightning for the guy. He is a university student, studying psychology, he has a lot of practice. He is especially interested in cases of memory lapses and brain disorders.

One day, after a wonderful evening, he comes with a girl to his room on the student campus. By chance, a young man stumbles upon children’s diaries. After flipping through a few pages, something strange happens to him. He finds himself in a different time and through the eyes of the then child sees the world around him.

The meaning of the movie Butterfly Effect

The directors successfully conveyed this moment. Time travel in cinematography is a rather familiar topic. They managed to give this line complete reality. The viewer believes in what is happening on the screen and empathizes with the main character.

Evan realized that he knows how to return to the past and, once there, he can change the future. He uses the Butterfly Effect. During the film several times returning to his past life, he, like the Lord God, changes the course of things and, accordingly, the fate of people.

Kutcher’s hero over and over again tries to change fate, each time trying to help Kelly or even save her. Evan invokes the Butterfly Effect, all the while hoping that the changes will help improve the lives of those close to him. He gradually gets used to his new abilities, which turn into a kind of mania. It works like a drug on him.

It can be understood! Who among us has not dreamed of returning to the past, trying to correct a fatal mistake? But, unfortunately, life cannot be rewritten. And this film gives, albeit a ghostly, but still, hope.

Actors and roles

The film is kept in constant tension until the very end. Until the last frame, the viewer does not know about the ending of the film.

Ashton Kutcher prepared for filming with full dedication. He studied many books on psychology, studied the emotional aspects of a person’s structure. The young actor devoted a lot of time to the study of psychiatry and chaos theory.

Interestingly, in the first versions of the script, the main character was named Chris Treborn. Later it was decided to rename it to Evan. This is due to the play on words and letters in the name. Moving the first letter of the last name to the end of the name, we get Chris Treborn -> Crist Reborn. Translated into Russian it turns out – Reborn Christ. And with the name Evan you get such a variant – Even Treborn -> Event Reborn – Reborn events.

Evan’s mother, played by actress Melora Walters, is only 10 years older than Ashton Kutcher.

The meaning of the movie Butterfly Effect

The cast of the film made up an excellent team of young people who embodied the images of their characters on the screen so that each character was remembered by the viewer.

Kelly is Evan’s girlfriend. It seems that she is the reason for all the events in the motion picture. Throughout the film, the guy is trying to save her, turning human destinies, time and events upside down. Her whole appearance appealed to sympathy, although she considers herself independent and self-sufficient. But the viewer realizes that her fate entirely depends on Evan. And Amy Smart fully managed to embody the director’s idea on the screen.

The meaning of the movie Butterfly Effect

Tommy is Kelly’s brother, an unbalanced, cruel guy with clear inclinations and even a love of sadism. But he also absolutely depends on the actions of the protagonist. The slightest interference changes his fate and character to the exact opposite.

The meaning of the movie Butterfly Effect

Unusually, actor Eldon Henson (Lenny) first starred in scenes that are timed at a later time frame. This was invented so that the actor first starred in scenes where he is slender and fit. After that, Henson gained about 10 kg in a month for filming that period when his character was fat.

The meaning of the movie Butterfly Effect

Film impression

This is not to say that the film leaves an unambiguous impression of itself. But in general, the picture evokes lively emotions and experiences, makes you believe in the reality of what is happening on the screen. Apparently, this is because the image of the protagonist has been verified to the last nut. His psychological portrait conveys a clear picture of his experiences. The oppressive environment causes a desire to empathize with the young person as if these events could happen in reality.

When the unwinding of the storyline reaches its climax, the viewer no longer considers it incredible that the hero can really change reality. In the end, you start to believe that this is possible not only in the movies.

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