The Butterfly

2003 | Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Foreign Language

Synopsis

This is the story of a young girl named Elsa who was raised by a single mother (Isabelle) in the city. Isabelle and Elsa begin the film moving in next door to an elderly man who collects butterflies (Julien). Isabelle who "spends a lot of time with her friends" does not pay much attention to her daughter who walks home because her mother forgot to pick her up from school. After meeting her new neighbor, Elsa finds out about the butterflies and in short annoys Julien for a while. Julien receives a mystery package from a fellow entomologist. Julien sets out on his annual attempt to find a rare species of butterfly that he had once promised his son he would find (son dead) in the French country side, specifically a region known as Vercors. Elsa stows away in his car. After being discovered she convinces him to let her come to Vercors with him. They bond while hiking and camping until Julien, who is initially annoyed by Elsa, near the end of the film seems to have a grandfather-granddaughter relationship with her. Elsa falls in a well. The police arrest Julien. Elsa tells everyone it is cool. Isabelle starts paying attention to her child. Julien and Elsa are friends. The mystery package contained a caterpillar which turned out to become the rare species of butterfly Julien set out to find. The species is called Isabelle. So Elsa finds her mother (Isabelle) and Julien finds the butterfly (Isabelle). Surprisingly happy feel for a french film.

Scores

Overall Score
73.8
Popularity Percentile (Year)
78.4%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
60.1%
Review Aggregate
87.5

Critic Consensus

94.2% Fresh • 172 critic reviews

Critic reception is largely positive, with 94% of 172 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize emotional, visually striking, uplifting. Most critics frame the film as an effective delivery of its core style and intent.

emotionalvisually strikingupliftinghistoricalstylizedlightheartedgrittysuspensefulthought-provokingscary

Cast

CastYearReported SalaryInflation AdjustedNotes
Mathieu Amalric2003$920,000$1,569,000(est)
Emmanuelle Seigner2003$566,000$966,000(est)
Marie-Josée Croze2003$426,000$727,000(est)
Anne Consigny2003$349,000$594,000(est)
Max von Sydow2003$298,000$508,000(est)

Aggregated Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes critic score94.0
RT critic review count176
Rotten Tomatoes audience score92.0
RT audience rating count100,000
IMDb rating7.1
IMDb votes3,487

Box Office ?

CategoryYearReportedInflation Adjusted
Domestic2003$189,144$322,470
International2003$5,794,636$9,879,224
Worldwide2003$5,983,780$10,201,694

Earnings / Profitability

Estimated net revenues and net expenses for films based on reported and estimated numbers. This income statement should be considered most viable for the first 24 months after the inital movie's release (ie after most lucrative pay windows).
CategoryYearReportedInflation Adjusted
Revenues
Theatrical Net Revenue2003$2,412,426$4,112,925
Digital Rentals ?2003$40,000$68,196
Digital Purchases ?2003N/AN/A
Physical Rentals ?2003$7,826,000$13,342,479
Physical Purchases ?2003$14,277,000$24,340,732
TV & Streaming Revenue2003$85,115$145,111
Total Revenues2003$24,640,541$42,009,442
Expenses
Budget ?2003$12,800,000$21,822,608
Print & Advertising (P&A) ?2003$2,394,000 (est)$4,081,510 (est)
Participations2003$986,000$1,681,023
Residuals ?2003$1,633,000$2,784,087
Interest & Overhead2003$2,560,000$4,364,522
Total Expenses2003$20,373,000$34,733,749
Movie Net Profit or Loss2003$4,267,541$7,275,694

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