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The Butterfly Effect
Movie (2004)
A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.
Movie (2004)
A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.
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Content at a glance
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Sex & Nudity
Female and male nudity, including full frontal, plus talk of sex and various sex acts. Child molestation is strongly implied, and prison rape is implied.
Violence & Gore
Graphic violence includes a man beaten to death with a baseball bat, a tween killing another with scrap metal, and a dog set on fire and killed. Sexual violence and prison rape are also described as concerns.
Profanity
Constant profanity by adults, tweens and teens, including strong words such as f--k and s--t. Homophobic and racial slurs, including the N word, are used.
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking
Drug dependence appears in one alternate reality, and a roommate is shown smoking from a bong. Tweens and adults smoke cigarettes, and a pedophile father drinks whiskey while filming children.
Frightening Scenes
Disturbing scenes include suicide and attempted suicide, a father choking his son in a mental hospital, and a powerful firecracker prank that results in a death and injuries in one reality.
Positives & learning
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Positive messages
The film explores how life choices affect others, but it suggests that individuals' decency is shaped mainly by external circumstances. It also deals with very dark subjects.
Role models
Characters are forever scarred by horrific childhood trauma rather than working through it, so role-model value is very limited.
Representation
The review reports that the film includes sexual and racial slurs, and includes characters who are a goth punk and a diner waitress who is sexually harassed. These are described portrayals, not evidence of broader diversity.
Learning
Families can discuss how the movie addressed its many difficult topics, and what it says about how events and circumstances shape people.
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