Butterfly

A regular at the International Film Festival Rotterdam since 2017, when her short film Retreat basically introduced what is now a shared universe of sorts (the character Gritt, played by Birgitte Larsen, appears in some capacity in all projects made since), Itonje Søimer Guttormsen is one of the more intriguing voices in contemporary Norwegian cinema. Her second feature Butterfly, premiering in IFFR’s Big Screen Competition, should benefit not just from her existing fest pedigree, but also from the casting of Renate Reinsve as one of the two leads.

After a freewheeling opening sequence that is more about mood than plot, the film quickly sets up its main emotional stakes: two estranged sisters, Lily (Reinsve) and Diana (Helene Bjørneby, who previously starred in the director’s graduation project), are reunited upon learning of their mother’s death. When they return to their childhood home in a resort on Gran Canaria, they discover they have inherited an unfinished retreat with esoteric qualities. Questions both material and spiritual come to the fore as the siblings deal with feelings they’ve been holding back for years.

Fans of Norwegian films may be drawn to Butterfly because of Reinsve, so it’s worth pointing out the actress delivers a very different performance from what we’ve grown accustomed to through her work with Joachim Trier (most recently in Sentimental Value) or in films like Armand. In keeping with Lily’s own desire to create a new identity for herself on the performance art scene, Reinsve is fairly unrecognizable at times – in some shots, she’s almost a dead ringer for fellow European arthouse darling Vicky Krieps. Playing with her looks and mannerisms, she’s a marvel to behold as she progressively peels away the layers the character has created to shield herself in deliberately eccentric ways.

Paired with Bjørneby, whose acting is more (deceptively) straightforward, she creates a dynamic that is in sync with Guttormsen’s exploration of the struggle between the sincere and the artificial, reflecting the film’s own hybrid structure in its own playful way (while the general setup is fictional, the supporting cast consists in part of local non-actors). Even when it looks like the whole thing might go off on a tangent, especially when the esoteric component enters the picture, everything is rooted in a compelling emotional honesty that makes for a riveting couple of hours observing the sisters’ literal and metaphysical journey.

True to its title, Butterfly is a film that goes through stages, a work that evolves, transforms and contains multitudes. It is a bit of a slow burn before it’s ready to spread its wings, but when it does, it’s a peculiarly cathartic moment to mark the culmination of everyone’s metamorphosis. Not least that of Guttormsen, who remains true to her aesthetic and vision of cinema, but at the same time exhibits a growing sense of scale and ambition, almost as though Retreat was a caterpillar and Gritt – her 2021 feature debut – the pupa. Where she goes from here is anyone’s guess, but based on the trajectory up to now it’s safe to assume the answer will be entirely, fascinatingly her own.

Director, Screenwriter: Itonje Søimer Guttormsen
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Helene Bjørneby, Lilian Müller, Numan Acar, Birgitte Larsen
Producer: Maria Ekerhovd
Cinematography: David Raedeker
Production design: Maja Nilsen
Costume design: Pia Aleborg
Music: Erik Ljunggren
Sound: Andreas Frank
Production companies: Mer Film, Quiddity Films, Zentropa International Sweden, Nord Film
World sales: Protagonist Pictures
Venue: International Film Festival Rotterdam (Big Screen Competition)
In Norwegian, English, Spanish
120 minutes