The Butterfly Effect (Directors' Cut)

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world - Chaos Theory

The Butterfly Effect is a very popular illustration of the Chaos Theory. This mathematical theory is based on the idea that the smallest change in the initial position of a dynamic system can change its behavior, hence its final state. Put it simply, however predictable something might be, if the starting position varies even slightly, it can change entirely how it will act. The easiest example to describe this phenomenon is the weather. No computer, however powerful it might be, is able to calculate precisely the nature of a system as chaotic as the weather. Coming back to our insect, a computer will not be able to predict the slightest butterfly flap which will influence the movement of air, hence have a small but maybe decisive effect on the wind.

However weird this theory may sound, it has an impact on our world, and it is not only applied to weather forecasts, but also to economics, physics, biology and philosophy.

Now about the movie! Directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, it tells the story of a boy named Evan, who suffers from a memory condition, as he represses the bad moments of his childhood. To help him, remember, he writes a journal during all his childhood. A few years later he reads one of the page before a traumatic moment of his life. This takes him back to this same moment and he is able to alter the initial state of his actions, therefore changing his life.

I was a bit sceptical as to Ashton Kutcher's performance in this movie, as I am used to seeing him in comedies (That 70's Show being my favorite), but he turns out to be the perfect actor. The story is very well put together, especially for the Directors' Cut, as there are four alternate endings. However I find that the main endings leave the movie incomplete and dull. This last version, only available on DVD, offers the viewer a duality which I will explain next.

Director's Cut Rating: 8/10

Original Rating: 6/10 

SPOILER ALERT! Do not read the following analysis if you haven't watched the Directors' Cut version before! 

Analysis:

I will explain why the Directors' Cut is more interesting than the original. In the original movie, Evan just makes sure he never meets Kayleigh. She escapes all the problems related to him, and therefore they both live happy although never together (so sad...).

But this ending is boring!

In the best ending, you find Evan waking up, after changing his life, in a mental hospital. The Doctor tells him the journals were the fruit of his imagination, but he is still persuaded that his supernatural power exists. He asks his mom for his birth movie, inducing a new alteration of the past. Since he has understood that he was the center of everyone's problems, he chokes himself as a foetus in his mother's womb and is never born. 

However we learn through the Doctor that he could have been imagining all his other lives, giving him a skitzophrenic behavior. He adds that his mental attacks have very severely damaged his brain, and he is surprised Evan can still move (letting us guess a next attack could be fatal). As Evan watches the movie and henceforth induces an attack, we could also understand that he is unconsciously ending his life.

MINDF**K!

This duality in the plot is incredible and has left me in awe. If you disagree or have any other theory, please share it by commenting below!