Duck Butter

Duck Butter tells a story of two struggling artists (sigh, I know) that flee from their troubles into an intense relationship. The good part is that both Alia Shawkat and Laia Costa deliver amazing performances as reserved Naima and dramatic Sergio, respectively. The bad part is that the story elements are rather trite and the plot doesn't lead anywhere. Overall, it seems like a waste of talent. At best, Duck Butter is a movie to be enjoyed for the ride rather than the destination.

This film really is how Sergio talks about it at the start: 10 years in 24 hours. It was very frustrating because it was so realistic. Very raw and difficult to watch, but definitely worth the suffering.

I get that some people love the more fluid, unscripted type of movie-"so RAW! So real!"-but I personally find that it's really really easy to do this kind of movie badly. And bad this was: in 24 hours of the characters being together, multiple film cliches came out of the woodwork regarding women-to-women relationships, including some obsessive/intense behaviors that just felt out of place. I didn't find this movie to be as realistic as some think it is, and some scenes were just straight up tasteless and vulgar. I get that we should be impressed that all the usual relationship drama can come out in a short period of time if you spend a lot of time together (apparently this is innovative for a plot device?), but I'm just not impressed.

Call me old-fashioned, but I wanted a decent script and a more compelling story.... and some more inspired acting would have been nice. Both characters needed better development.

Finally, I can't unlearn the definition of "duck butter" after seeing this travesty of a movie, so there's that, too. Just...no.

This film is about two women who decide to spend 24 hours together in the hope that they will skip the learning period of a relationship.

This film is directed and co-wrote by Miguel Arteta (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). It stars Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) and Laia Costa (Victoria).

This films plot his ambitious and interesting, their are instances in the film where it feels like a storytelling experiment, and the cameos by Kumal Nanjiani and the Duplass brothers make for a fun part of the film.

However, the writing isn't so good, it does not capitalize on the interesting plot. The acting and directing isn't so good either, it is so plain and unimaginative.

There's nothing much more to this film than an interesting story. But I would recommend you see it just once if you like film.

6/10

My father watched this movie and actually called me to say that I should watch it immediately. My father is 68 years old and I'm 20 and bisexual. Duck Butter is just raw, so much like real life. Laia Costa is amazing (AGAIN), the tears and the singing, she's incredible. Also, Alia Shawkat she's always worth it, isn't she? The movie deserves a better rating!