Available today on VOD (Video on Demand) and on digital, is the psychological thriller, Goodbye, Butterfly.
The film stars Adam Donshik, Andy Lauer, Marie Burke, Angela Saur, Addison Ross, Jennifer Adams and Jeremy London.
Ryan is a married man with a precocious young daughter, Mia. It’s evident from the opening of the film that his daughter means the world to him.
Mia really loves butterflies, and her room is filled with them.
The film then switches gears and we see Mia lying lifeless in a field, covered in blood. Viewers learn that Mia has been murdered.
Distraught, Ryan’s life seems to spin out of control. Even his wife Jessie cannot deal with the grief.
The police investigation is turning up with no leads. That is not good enough for Ryan.
Ryan has his suspicious about a weird neighbor from across the street, Stan Granger. Ryan proceeds to create his own stakeout.
One night Ryan thinks he saw Stan with one of his daughter’s favorite hairclips. The police investigate, but turn up with nothing and move Granger off their list of possible murderers.
This does not sit well with Ryan. He is 100% convinced that Stan is the killer, and together with his best friend, come up with a possibly ill-fated plan to kidnap Stan and force him to admit he killed Mia. Afterwards they will kill Stan and bury him in the woods.
That plan seems like it could work, but the situation takes an unusual turn.
Does Ryan get a confession out of Stan? Is Stan even the one who murdered his beloved daughter? Will they ever catch the killer?
To find out the answers, check out Goodbye, Butterfly. Look for it on Video on Demand (VOD) and digital.
I wish the film had more of Ryan’s daughter, Mia, in it. The young actress (Addison Ross) did an outstanding job. I was very impressed by her acting skills. Sadly, she was killed off too soon.
Speaking of killing, I could have done WITHOUT seeing her lifeless body, covered in blood, lying in a field. Perhaps they could have done something less disturbing to let viewers know that she was murdered without actually showing it. As a parent, I found that visual very disturbing.
I liked the premise of the film – child murder, father desperate for answers, father suspects a neighbor and does what he can to get the answers he’s looking for. That IS what happened, but I think it could have been tweaked a bit to make it a little better.
At it’s core, this film is about love and desperation. I think many people could see themselves in Ryan’s shoes, to some degree. Obviously most people wouldn’t take the law into their own hands. That would be the extreme way of handling the situation, but I suppose a distraught parent would do things they might not otherwise even consider. You can’t fault him for that, in a way.
The acting was good. Stan (Lauer) is creepy. I sure wouldn’t want him as my neighbor.
The movie was a bit slow at times, and it seemed like it was dragging a bit. I even started to dose off a bit (but in my defense, I didn’t sleep that well the night before). At times the film lost my interest. The beginning and ending were good, it’s the in-between part that started to drag.
I am not sure of the rating of this film, but due to the subject matter, I would think it would be PG-13 at the very least.
I am unaware of foul language, but there is very brief nudity at the end (you don’t really see anything but the side of a naked woman lying on a bed).
If you are interested in learning more about the film, you can visit the official website, GoodbyeButterflyMovie.com. You can also check out the film on Facebook (@GoodbyeButterflyMovie) and Instagram (@GoodbyeButterflyMovie).
I’m sorry that I do not have a trailer to share with you at this time. When one becomes available, I will update this post.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
