BUTTERFLY KISS Movie Review

I've been waiting in vain for Michael Winter-bottom to make another film as original and subversive as Butterfly Kiss, but then again, with material this strong, maybe once is enough. Amanda Plummer is Eunice, a woman who roams the English countryside murdering women after asking them if their name is Judith. Eunice is a mess; she wears chains under her clothing and is pierced in places that must hurt. She is, in fact, obsessed with punishment—both inflicting it on others and on herself. Eventually, Butterfly Kiss turns into a strange love story between Eunice and a woman named Miriam (Saskia Reeves), whom Eunice has elected not to kill. Some of this film will be hard to watch—simply on a graphic level—for many viewers. But if you're able to mesh with this director's sensibilities, the surprisingly human—and often appallingly funny—undercurrent of Butterfly Kiss might surprise you. Plummer is electrifying, engaging, and terrifying throughout, and she (fortunately) never has to do a scene in which she explains or justifies her disorder or her behavior. There she is, and that's that. That was enough for me, but one viewing will do it, thank you very much.

NEXT STOP … Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Badlands, The Vanishing

1994 90m/C GB Amanda Plummer, Saskia Reeves, Paul Brown, Des McAleer, Ricky Tomlinson; D: Michael Winterbottom; W: Frank Cottrell Boyce; C: Seamus McGarvey; M: John Harle. VHS FRF