One scene in The Butterfly Effect is still bothering fans to this day. Released in 2004, the sci-fi thriller stars Ashton Kutcher as Evan Treborn who, as a child, has a history of blackouts and memory loss. Later, as a 20-year-old college student, Evan discovers that by reading his childhood journals, he can transport himself back in time to inhabit his former self during those blackouts. Kutcher's character decides to use his ability to correct the past, soon discovering that even the slightest change comes with major unintended consequences. However, the film doesn't always follow its own time travel rules.
A recent Reddit thread posted by prison scene from The Butterfly Effect, the comment reaching the top of the thread. A string of s sharing his sentiment replied to the comment, demonstrating how, nearly twenty years after its release, this illogical scene from The Butterfly Effect is still bothering fans. Check out the thread below:
The Butterfly Effect's Time Travel Rules Explained
Early on in The Butterfly Effect, the film establishes its titular principle – every time Evan travels back in time and makes changes to the past, it results in various unintended consequences. When he returns to the present, Evan effectively creates a new timeline, and he's the only person aware of the changes. Using the same example as the Reddit , when Evan's arms are blown off by an explosion, he wakes up in a new reality and is shocked to find he has no arms, which his roommates are already aware of.
At another point, Evan accidentally kills Kayleigh's unhinged brother Tommy and goes to prison for the crime. There, to try and convince a fellow prisoner he possesses the power of time travel, Ashton Kutcher's character travels back to his childhood and violently stabs his hands on some pointed objects in school, only to end up right back in prison in the present, with some scars magically appearing on his hands. The puzzling scene defies the very logic of the film's title and all the time travel rules it establishes.
Following the time travel rules presented by the film, Evan's actions should have resulted in the creation of an alternate timeline in which his scars were there the whole time with Evan being aware he didn't have them before. Using The Butterfly Effect's own logic, Evan stabbing his own hands in school would have caused ripple effects that drastically altered the trajectory of his life, meaning he never would have killed Tommy and ended up in prison. This scene in The Butterfly Effect is the only one that defies its own time travel rules, though it's been driving viewers crazy for years.
Source: Various (see links above)
