Damn imagine your non-existence being the best possible outcome for all your friends-

saw this movie as a kid, as a teenager and as an adult. every time i ended with different feelings and sensations about it's meaning

My head canon is that the two previous miscarriages also had the same abilities, but both came to the same solution of preventing being born. Edit: people in the comments made really solid points on how it's pretty much implied, rather than head canon. Thanks for the correction.

I just realize that the blackouts he has throughout his life are from him going back into his own timeline. He’s taking over the body of his past self.

There were alternative endings. The movie he watches at the end, was of the day he met Kayleigh and Tommy. He says mean things to Kayleigh, resulting in her and Tommy deciding not to live with their dad, and everyone turning out ok. Many years later, he’s walking down a crowded street and crosses path with Kayleigh. The happily ever after version was him running up to her. She doesn’t know him, but he flirts and they end up walking walk off down the street together. The other ending was him seeing her on the street, wanting to go after her, but making the same decision he made for her before. He watches her walk away, knowing she was better off without him. I prefer both to the fetus commits suicide version. Even if it the only ending that gives meaning to the gypsy’s comments: you have no soul, you were never meant to be.

"asking for a photo album that never existed" that hit SO hard wow great plot

Wait so his blackouts as a kid was actually his future self taking control over his consciousness and the 7 years he did experience blackouts as an adult was because his future self didn't visit those times, that's crazy😳

Damn everyone really did live better lives without him

So, Evan's grandfather had similar abilities. The dad seems to have had changed the past a few times until he lost the photos he kept as memories (he tells his son that you can't change the past without changing peoples' personalities). And that's why he kept asking the doctor for them. Only he didn't have courage to end his existance. Or didn't know how. I imagine the previous miscarriages also had same kids with abilities. Who reached the same conclusion; erasing themselves. And because the father was still the same guy, the new babies kept having the ability. There's more to the story. See, for Evan to be the last, his parents had to not be able to have children after the his painful umbilical cord strangle in the womb. And I think they must have divorced after Evan's tragedy birth. At the end, it was a good thing that the mom married another man. But... what of the dad? What happened after the divorce? Did he pass away? Did he re-marry and not have children? If he re-married and had children, I have a feeling they had similar experiences; but their stories are untold. And of the dad, did he give up on changing the past? I guess he did. That's the only way you'd let your love go. Or maybe he tried but the outcomes were not pretty?? We'd never know. Sometimes our non-existance is what everyone needs. Is what the world needs. Imagine that

From what I remember, this movie was released with different endings. This seems like a good one, in a way, although also very sad.

Tommy being a menace in every time line and somehow never arrested for anything is the most unbelievable part. Also, Evan going to prison for killing in self defense?

This is a Story Recapped with the Director's Cut of the movie with the original ending. The theatrical ending shows Evan threatening Kayleigh to make sure they never have a friendship to begin with. The ending shown in theaters ends with Evan and Kayleigh walking past each other as successful business people in NYC. There are two more endings of them. One where Evan ends up following her and the other one where he asks her out for coffee. The theatrical ending just shows them walk past each other without saying anything, yet the look of recognizing each other, they both continue to walk in opposite directions.

I had this on DVD. There are multiple alternate endings. For those questioning it.

Highly underrated movie. Even your expert explanation couldn't do it justice. Easily my favorite Ashton film. It's like when you discover Jim carry could act in 23.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I don’t know why critics hated it so much. I didn’t find the story hard to follow, and I love how we are so confused just like Evan is for the beginning of this movie throughout. This is just entertainment. Also, Tommy, as a child scared the absolute shit out of me.

Imagine finding out everyone would be better off without you being born. That's messed up.

Your original recap of this movie was one of the first that I watched on this channel. The recaps are helpful with movies like this because it explains some of the key plot points very well. Comparing this version of the recap and the previous one also shows how far the production/writing of this channel have come.

I am afraid that the ending where he kills himself in mother's womb is canonical, considering the no lifeline/ no soul and miscarriages.

A point that is overlooked in the film is this is potentially Evans third "Playthrough" at life, as his mother miscarried twice before him insinuating that she had in-fact given birth twice however the child ultimately destroyed its life and returned to the womb to kill itself and to "Reset" I had heard this was meant to be the tie in for The Butterfly Effect 2 however the budget was decimated and they decided to make it a direct to dvd project.

When you realize the moral is: “everyone was better off without you”

“You are doing something when you do nothing.” “It's existing while harming no one else. A very peaceful existance where no one is trying to control you nor are you trying to control anyone else. I think it's going into a state of bliss where everything is peaceful and allright.” -Kim Walker, wife of USMC vet with PTSD

I saw this one with a different ending, the guy tell in a party Jenny that he doesn't like her and then after 25 years he find her in the street.

Wow. I must have seen a different ending. I remember watching it on tv one evening. In the end, he goes back in time to when he first meets the girl and ignores her so she won't stay. Then it skips to the future where he walks the street as she is walking the other way. He looks at her and then carries on walking. I thought it was a so-so ending. But seeing this version actually makes it a better ending. Now I need to watch it again only with this ending.

Its been awhile since I've seen The Butterfly Effect, but I don't remember that ending at all. I remember Evan going up to Kaylie and saying stay away from me. They all never saw each other again until like 30 years by chance Evan and Kaylie pass each other on a busy sidewalk. They both hesitate like hey don't I know you, but keep walking.

Man. Man... Man. Lol. You 10000% should've added in Thumper smashing the stick and whistling while twirling the stick.. My favorite scene in the movie.

So glad they included this version of the ending and not the theatrical ending where he just tells Kaylee to f off. This is the ending the movie needed. So twilight zone/black mirror-esque.

watching this when it came out. as a 15 yr old kid. this shit was crazy! love this film classic. to me

best part about his character is that he could of used his powers for every self serving purposes out there, yet he chose to make it right for everyone close to him only to bare the worst of all consequences even if it meant noone will ever know what he did for them. 100% cry worthy

So the previous miscarriages were the same result, all of them at the end decided to end their lives to save other's future and their's as well. Also since she was trying to baby with the same father with abilities, all the babies with miscarriages were getting the same abilities. Moreover only the babies went back in time to kill themselves in the womb. Their father didn't or couldn't do that because he didn't have his video of childbirth or else he would have done the same thing preventing all these weird abilities from passing on, even his grandfather had these abilities but couldn't go back in time to the womb to kill themselves, only Even could do it stopping the process then and there

one of the few movies i can't re-watch for "fun" or "killing time." just like "requiem of a dream" or "trainspotting" - but i've gotten better with the latter.

This is my favorite movie since it's release date... Awesome. Thanks for recapping it. 😊

Amazing film, The post box explosion scene really stuck with me since I watched this like 10 years ago

I saw this ending and I liked it more than the original theater release. He goes back and yells at Kaley that he doesn’t like her so she & her bro still choose her mom and everyone has the life shown except he also ends up with a good life.

He sends his own conscience back into his younger self... brilliant movie.

did the dude ever find his car though?

I remember having watched this at about 7-10 years old, really fkd me up as I didn't understand most of what and why things were happening. Never remembered much just the horrible things and feelings that came with seeing them and thinking about the reality of it, the dog, baby dynamite ect. So glad I've found this at 33, I genuinely didn't realise how much watching this film that young effected me until I saw this and completely changed my perspective on something I had forgotten I let change me. I know its just a movie but I just happened to watch it at that certain age where I was able to comprehend what was happening just couldn't understand it, or the other way round🤷‍♂️

As a kid this movie was weird but as an adult you realize this is a dark twisted movie. One plot twist after another

That's not how the movie ended. I remember it seemed he fixed it by not being friends with the girl in the first place. Telling her at a party that he hated her. Then in the future he sees her walking down the street looking well off.

Oh that pesky butterfly. But I do love time travel and time manipulation movies🦋🦋🦋

I'm so glad I only watched a few seconds and watched the entire thing. It's so damn well made.

I remember me and my friends were to watch this movie into the cinema, 15 years old we were, we came out and it was completely different to everything we had seen, we were marveled, sci fi movie dressed as drama, with sparks of horror, and such a great camera movements and involving sounds when he came back to the past, oh, and it has many heartbreaking scenes too that made me cry, like when he goes to the alternative universe where his crush and best friend is a hooker and he tells her that in other world she was a college student and everything came out right but she didnt believe him 😪

I like how he has the same haircut as a kid, as a teenager and as an adult. 😂

This is one of my favorite Ashton Kutcher performances

This is a truly powerful movie that really fuels the emotional "what if" in life.

This was one of those movies that I really liked when I was a kid but never remembered the title of, thinking about it every now and then throughout the years, wanting to find it. (couldn't really find it on the internet back then.) I finally found it again when a classmate did a project about this movie 8 years later.

One of my most beloved movies, definitely an all time classic

I was so confused about this ending lol. I didn't know there were alternatives. I like the one where he goes back to the birthday to say he never ever wants to see her again. Maybe your life is better off without the people you love deeply.

You know what I always miss when I watch a movie? Going down in the comment section to see what other people thought about it. This is just perfect

I love this channel, because it explains every single important plot point AFTER having watched the movie. 🍿

I remember this move with a different ending, He decided to be mean to the blonde girl so she didn't have to go trought all the crap. In the end they see each other in the street but she doesn't recognize him.

I really enjoyed this movie as a kid . Rewatching I still feel like this was a really great movie and role for Ashton .

I never saw the extended scene , that makes way more sense

That's a really good doctor. Specialist in ALL fields

12:10 how the fuck does he go to prison for an OBVIOUS self defense situation?

i love your channel. but why did you decide to show the alternate ending instead of the theatrical movie ending in theaters? Def was way more hopeful. he realizes he cant keep meddling in godlike affairs. and that his making things worse. so he makes his friends hate him and they live much happier lives without him.

That's a great lesson: In life, you are the source of problems.

This movie went deep fr fr

I want to say Evan had started his journal on the ride to Kayleigh's, so even if she blew up, there would still be that first page of his journal. Of course maybe it wasn't kept or whatever, it doesn't bother me either way since it's fiction. I've always really liked this movie, but my first viewing I had bought the DVD and watched the Director's Cut version, which I watched numerous times, never watching the theatrical or any alternative endings. So I was surprised when I kept seeing reaction channels that constantly were watching different version. I'd recommend this movie, but still massively prefer the DC version which this Story Recapped is about, over the they all lived merely happily ever after faery princess Disney tales other endings.

One of my favorite movies

Butterfly effect! I loved this movie soo much I watched it 3 times in the cinema lol

There was another ending to this. He goes back to a birthday party and tells Kayleigh that he never wants to see her and that he will kill her. She runs to her dad and they leave. Years later they meet again, only she does not recognize him.

the dude who stopped him from the film memory is an absolute beast now!!!

I’ve tried to watch this movie about 15 years ago now and just couldn’t follow. This recap finally made it cohesive to understand. Now I’m searching for part 2 then I’m going to look for Inception because that’s one I can’t follow either lol. Thanks for all you do.

I believe this movie is a moral on whatever choice you make it will have consequences. ( good or bad)

Still one of the best movies to this day

Bruh... That was sad!!!

Does anyone know the background music for this video? I'd really like to download it because it's really soothing. @Story Recapped if you have the name of the track I'd greatly appreciate it.

If you like this movie, you'll also like "Donnie Darko".

Good job. You did the right thing.

This movie is just an amazing gem I am betting no one had any idea.

"Watch out and take care" 🥺

Maybe I missed it, but this movie always reminded me of the episode of Start Trek the Next Generation that explored the "many worlds" theory (the episode called Parallels). That's the theory based on quantum mechanics that everything that can happen, does happen, and that there are millions, even billions of parallel universes created and spreading out as we make our choices and live the experiences of our lives. I always thought Evan was like Worf in that STTNG episode, where he is able to move across those parallel universes, but only backwards, with the knowledge of the universes he's inhabited. When he makes changes in one of those universes, it immediately branches out into a new universe, one he then moves along to the present time. The movie ends with one final leap back to a point where he ensures he doesn't become friends with Kayleigh, sending her down a path to a different universe, while he returns to the present of the universe he created by that final action. Oh well.

I wish I could go back to when I was a baby and do the same thing 🤣

I grew up in the early 2000's when movies were super edgy. I remember movies like this one, the matrix, the texas chainsaw masacre, the hills have eyes, and swordfish were pretty common on HBO and the like. This film made me so uncomfortable as a kid because of how pointlessly cruel the characters were. Most mainstream movies were like that though. Overly sexualized, violent and full of characters being stupid for the sake of moving the plot along. Wild times.

Dude did all that for a girl that would have a better life if he didn't exist

SPOILER There was something the psychiatrists in that mental institute knew what he was doing was harmful. Otherwise they wouldn't have been breaking the glass in to get into the office he was using the projector for. There's no reason for them to act like he had a bomb or something.

A lot of things that happened here did not happen in the version that Netflix have in their app and I'm very confused by that

She takes him to a hospital over some edgy drawing lol

Unforgettable movie. Love love love it.

I originally saw the happier ending where he didn't die and watched it as an adult and thought I was crazy for remembering it differently

Underrated movie, and props to the casting for young and older "Tommy" I think his character name is (the brother); the young and older truly look like the same person at different stages of their life. I kind of feel like it's a little underrated because Ashton Kutcher's in it. It's more difficult to take him seriously since so many people identify him as his character from "That 70s Show".

Every time things went wrong in different timelines and he went back to fix it I was like “I got it! I got it! I know just what he did wrong!”

Dude WHERE'S my Journals?!

Great film

The nose bleeding thing makes me think of bioshock infinite.

Its like a bizarro version of its a wonderful life, except instead of life being worse its actually better.

8:27 Evan checks his “Tummy” lol

i seen this movie as a young kid and i feel like it molded me someway

Incredible movie. Fkd up. But incredible. I only saw it once. I cant forget it

The price to "save" all his friends and mom is his existence.

Omg I remember this movie like so many others as a kid teenager and adult each time r I watched it my feelings changed about the movie never have I ever had a movie do this except fir this one movie

That's some Donnie Darko business at the end there! o.O

One of the best movies I have watched

I own this movie on VHS still, and the ending shown isn't the same. In the version I have, when he watches the home movies, it's of a birthday party when he first met the girl. He runs up to her, and whispers in her ear "Stay the fuck away from me or I'll murder your whole family!" and she freaks out and tells her parents. It changes their pasts so that he never becomes friends with them since them knowing him was the cause of all their hardships.

This is a great movie one of my favorites

I saw this movie when I was a kid, and it's been my favorite movie ever since. I had a few parallels with Evan like the fact that I (even to this day) have never met my father, and this movie got me asking those questions as a little boy. My mother always referred to me as her "miracle baby" because she literally miscarried three times before having me, hit menopause and was told she won't be able to have any more kids, then here I came. Then all these years later, I become a Myers-Briggs typology fanatic, and I find out that Evan and I are both the INFJ type. And this made me pose another question. Would I be able to sacrifice myself to give my loved ones a better life? And the answer is unequivocally yes.

16:30 Wow, his superpower got an upgrade at the last minute. If only I had the power to time travel by watching my home movies, too -- I have so many that I could travel to just about any time in my childhood and change anything. Though my childhood was much better than his, so I wouldn't change much, but there are a few tragedies I'd give anything to prevent from happening.

Man I was looking for this movie

I laughed when he realized he lost his arms 😂😂😂😂 I’m going to hell 🤦🏾‍♂️

I watched this as a kid and could never understand wth was going on.