Black Butterflies

Black Butterflies (2011)

  • 73% of critics liked it
    (11 reviews)

  • 60% of users liked it
    (828 ratings)

Poetry, politics, madness, and desire collide in the true story of the woman hailed as South Africa's Sylvia Plath. In 1960s Cape Town, as Apartheid steals the expressive rights of blacks and whites alike, young Ingrid Jonker (Carice van Houten) finds her freedom scrawling verse while frittering… More

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Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
Greg Latter
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Mar 2, 2012 Limited
Tribeca Films

Critic Reviews

  • V.A. Musetto, New York Post

    Van Houten ... gives a strong performance as Jonker, and the cinematography is pleasing, but the script is cliché-ridden and ends on an overly sentimental note.

  • Stephen Holden, New York Times

    The movie reminds you of the extent to which poetry has been marginalized as a cultural force since the early 1960s.

  • Rex Reed, New York Observer

    Black Butterflies is a dark, moving depiction of the life and death of a brave rebellious, idiosyncratic woman who made significant strides toward changing the world around her and paid a heavy toll for her passion.

  • Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York

    Always feels like a life schematically condensed rather than intimately explored.

  • Nick Schager, Village Voice

    Art, politics, and craziness conspire to form a rather mechanical melodrama in Black Butterflies...

Read all 10 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Cynthia S


    Nice movie, albeit very slow, and depressing.

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