Butterflies (2018)

Turkish director Tolga Karaçelik’s Butterflies (Kelebekler in Turkish) is a dark comedy-drama that mixes absurd humor with tender family drama. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance (World Cinema – Dramatic Competition), this film stands out for its unique storytelling tone that balances tragedy, surrealism, and moments of warmth.

Detailed Summary

Introduction: Three Estranged Siblings

The story follows three siblings—Cemal, Kenan, and Suzan—who have been estranged for decades. Cemal is an astronaut who has failed to achieve the great ambitions he once dreamt of. Kenan is a voice actor for Turkish-dubbed Japanese cartoons, disillusioned with his life and career. Suzan is a teacher with anger management problems who doesn’t quite fit into her surroundings.

They all receive a call from their father, whom they haven’t seen in 30 years, asking them to return to their hometown village. Despite skepticism and personal resistance, they reluctantly decide to make the trip together.

The Road Trip of Dysfunction

Their journey is peppered with absurd and comical situations: encounters with eccentric villagers, a surrealist sequence involving chickens that mysteriously explode, and conversations that highlight their disconnection both from each other and from their father’s world. Karaçelik uses humor to expose deep-seated emotional wounds, creating a blend of laughter and melancholy.

Arrival at the Village

When they arrive in the village, they discover that their father has just died before they could meet him. The villagers behave oddly, often veering into strange rituals and bizarre traditions that make the siblings question the sanity of the place. At the same time, they start piecing together who their father really was, realizing that he was much more enigmatic than they remembered.

Family Ties Resurface

Amidst the absurdity, the siblings begin to connect with each other for the first time in years. Through arguments, laughter, and shared grief, they start to rebuild a sense of family. Karaçelik juxtaposes the ridiculous with the deeply human—forcing them to confront the meaning of family, loss, and reconciliation.

Movie Ending

In the final act, the siblings prepare for their father’s burial. They discover that the villagers follow a strange funeral custom involving butterflies, which appear en masse during significant spiritual moments. The butterflies become a symbol of both the mystery of life and the fleeting beauty of reconciliation.

At the burial site, the siblings experience a surreal moment of transcendence: the absurd atmosphere gives way to something unexpectedly profound. The butterflies swarm, almost as if nature itself is acknowledging their father’s passing and the reunion of his children.

The siblings—broken, cynical, but also softened by the experience—find a fragile bond in their shared grief. Cemal, Suzan, and Kenan stand together, not fully healed, but changed by the journey. The movie closes with a bittersweet sense of closure, leaving the audience questioning whether family ties can truly be mended or if the absurdity of existence simply forces us to keep trying.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

No, Butterflies (2018) does not include any post-credits scenes. The story concludes firmly with the symbolic butterfly sequence, and the credits roll without additional narrative content.

Type of Movie

Butterflies is a dark comedy-drama with surrealist and absurdist elements. It combines road movie structure with satirical humor and moments of emotional sincerity.

Cast

• Tolga Tekin as Cemal
• Bartu Küçükçağlayan as Kenan
• Tuğçe Altuğ as Suzan
• Serkan Keskin in a supporting role
• Hakan Karsak, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, and others from the ensemble Turkish cast

Film Music and Composer

The film’s music is subtle and atmospheric, blending minimalist tones with traditional Turkish influences. Instead of overpowering the narrative, the score supports the surreal and emotional aspects of the journey. Composer details are relatively understated, as Karaçelik leans more on sound design and silence to accentuate absurdity and tension.

Filming Locations

Butterflies was filmed primarily in a small village in Turkey’s Anatolian region. The rustic setting is central to the film’s identity, contrasting the siblings’ modern urban alienation with the timeless oddities of rural life. The isolation of the location amplifies the film’s surreal tone and its absurdist humor.

Awards and Nominations

• Winner: Grand Jury Prize – World Cinema Dramatic, Sundance Film Festival 2018
• Screened at multiple international festivals, receiving praise for its originality and performances

Behind the Scenes Insights

• Tolga Karaçelik intentionally mixed professional and non-professional actors to heighten realism in the villagers’ eccentric behavior.
• The director drew inspiration from his own family background and experiences of estrangement.
• Many comedic moments were partly improvised, giving the film its naturalistic, unpredictable energy.
• The “exploding chicken” scenes were carefully crafted with visual effects and comedic timing, designed to balance absurdity with deadpan seriousness.

Inspirations and References

• Inspired by family dramas and absurdist theater, particularly works that explore the tension between comedy and tragedy.
• The butterfly symbolism draws from folk traditions and universal metaphors of transformation and rebirth.
• Karaçelik’s narrative style echoes filmmakers like Aki Kaurismäki and Jim Jarmusch, blending deadpan humor with heartfelt moments.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

There are no widely reported alternate endings. However, some scenes involving village life and sibling dynamics were trimmed for pacing, particularly road trip banter that risked slowing down the narrative.

Book Adaptations and Differences

The movie is not based on a book. It is an original screenplay written and directed by Tolga Karaçelik.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

• The absurd yet unforgettable “exploding chickens” sequence.
• The siblings’ heated argument in the car, blending comedy with raw emotion.
• The funeral scene with the butterfly swarm.

Iconic Quotes

• Suzan: “We don’t even know him, and now we’re supposed to bury him.”
• Kenan: “Family is just a bunch of people who happened to be born near each other.”
• Cemal: “I flew to space, but this… this feels stranger.”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

• The butterfly motif appears subtly throughout the film—in fabrics, small decorations, and even background conversations—before the climactic swarm.
• The recurring joke about exploding chickens acts as both absurd humor and a metaphor for suppressed family tension suddenly “bursting out.”
• Suzan’s teaching anecdotes mirror her own inability to manage chaos, foreshadowing her struggle with her siblings.

Trivia

• This was the first Turkish film in 34 years to win a major award at Sundance.
• Bartu Küçükçağlayan, who plays Kenan, is also a well-known musician in Turkey.
• Despite being set in a remote village, the production had to bring in sound design teams from Istanbul to capture both authentic rural sounds and surreal elements.

Why Watch?

Because Butterflies manages to be both hilarious and heartbreaking. If you enjoy films that challenge conventional storytelling with absurd humor, yet still carry emotional depth, this is a hidden gem. It’s a movie that asks you to laugh at the absurdities of life while quietly nudging you to reflect on your own family ties.

Director’s Other Movies

• Toll Booth (Gişe Memuru, 2010)
• Ivy (Sarmaşık, 2015)

Recommended Films for Fans

• Ivy (2015)
• The Band’s Visit (2007)
• The Man Without a Past (2002)
• Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
• Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)