Michael Winterbottom’s feature debut was this one-of-a-kind serial killer lesbian love story set in the anonymous motorways, service stations and cafés of Northern England. Amanda Plummer is Eunice, a spiky unpredictable schizophrenic who wanders through petrol stations in search of “Judith” while sporting piercings and bondage chains under an androgynous exterior. Saskia Reeves is Miriam, her hard of hearing companion who instantly falls in love with Eunice and joins her on the road, becoming her lover, caretaker, and murderous assistant. Frank Cottrell Boyce’s clever script melds the road movie, psychodrama, black comedy, and religious allegory as he considers Eunice’s disposition, freedom of action, spiritual suffering, and eventual fate.
Sometimes compared to Thelma and Louise and Natural Born Killers, this dreamlike, downbeat British film was praised as “breathtakingly original” by Variety and is a jarringly uncomfortable ride through a British landscape rarely travelled. Excellent acting performances and surprising plot turns are accompanied by the iconic 90s sound of The Cranberries.
Inexplicably out of circulation, Lost Reels is proud to present the UK theatrical premiere of the 2025 digital restoration of Butterfly Kiss scanned from the original camera negatives by the BFI and approved by director Michael Winterbottom and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. After the screening we will be joined for a Q&A by Julie Baines, producer of Butterfly Kiss and founder of Dan Films.
Special thanks to Julie Baines for her support and participation.
