Borboleta Negra

This film tells the story of a reclusive writer, who gets into a fight in a diner. A stranger helps him out, therefore the writer offers the stranger a place to stay. Little does the writer know, things will go the wrong way, and he is soon taken prisoner in his own house.

"Black Butterfly" has a thrilling story. The tension and thrill is palpable, especially when the stranger becomes increasingly deranged. One hour into the film, there is a major twist that gets me lost for a moment, but after making sense of the twist, I find it quite clever. It is a thrilling and an enjoyable film.

I was so close to not recommend it because of the ending. I mean, the final 20 seconds. At first, i hated it. But i thought about it and it probably makes sense if you think who is Banderas' character. Still, i would prefer this movie had a different ending. The one we've watched after the big/penultimate twist happened.

In any case, this is a good mystery/thriller movie. Not a MUST WATCH, not a strong recommendation, there are many better movies to watch, even in this genre. But a fan of this genre will like it. Banderas is not a great actor, still he has a lot of charisma and i like to watch him in movies. Rhys Meyers is amazing, he carries this movie on his shoulders. Perabo is passable.

Watch it without reading anything about the plot. A lot of intense moments. Kinda clever. More mystery than thriller, i mean, if you are looking for action and fights, this is not your movie. Lower your expectations, don't expect something mind blowing and you will enjoy it.

A remake of a foreign thriller, this version is worth your while if you've read the synopsis and the story sounds appealing.

The direction is crisp. Editing and cinematography are generally excellent. The story and script are tight and twisty. The casting is excellent -- Antonio Banderas was cast instead of Nicholas Cage and we can all be thankful for that. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Piper Perabo do a great job as well, as do the supporting players.

Sadly, the sound mix is one of the worst I've ever heard, due to the poorly mixed dialog tracks and one song that is cranked too loud (and not a great song at that). The dialog volume veers wildly all throughout the movie, from barely audible mumbling to deafening shouts. I had to watch this with my controller in hand to be ready to drop or raise the volume significantly at every radical shift.

The fact that two production sound mixers are credited might point to the problem (i.e. -- the first one might have been replaced for being incompetent), but there's no excuse for not fixing it in post so the ultimate blame belongs to the post supervisor and the dozen or so producers listed in the credits who should have insisted on and sprung for a better mix. Yes, post sound is an expensive item but it's also a critical feature.

Ironically, the sound efx are top notch. It might be a small triumph, but the gun shots are the most realistic shots I've ever heard in a movie.

If you like tense commercial thrillers, check it out. Just keep the volume control handy, particularly if your neighbors are sensitive to noise.

I really enjoyed Black Butterfly, it was one of those movies that you kind of knew what was happening next, and then things turned out very differently. The 2 main characters were very well acted. I know a negative reviewer was saying alcoholics don't swig out of bottles, well as an alcoholic, I can tell you that was true to life, as was the early morning drinking, and blanking out and waking up in bed. The movie had a great location a secluded ranch style house and the tension was palpable almost from the start. I promise you, the ending was amazing and totally unexpected and a pleasant surprise. Overall a low budget movie which I enjoyed far more than Star Trek Beyond which cost $180 million dollars and which I refused to watch to the end. I am quite critical with movies, read my other reviews. This film is definitely worth viewing with pleasure and interest.

I rarely start watching a movie and try figuring out or realizing the plot so the twist and the end was so awesome and totally surprising but I wish they'd left it there and not added the last twist. Jonathan Rys-Meyers nailed his part, he one seriously talented actor.