"Butterfly Kisses" - A Hidden Gem Worth Streaming

Okay, okay, okay. I know found footage films have been exhaustively played out since the Blair Witch days, but every once in a while you stumble upon a decent found footage film that piques your interest & skews the genre into a more likable direction. This is the case with “Butterfly Kisses,” a found footage film about found footage wrapped in a documentary… confused? I’ll explain it.

There once was a film student named Gavin (played by Seth Kallick) who has been subjected to filming weddings, despite his bravado & schooling. He happens to find some…footage. He believes this footage he found is real and is on a quest to prove it. And right there with him is a documentary crew, documenting his attempt to prove this found footage is real. Hopefully, I’m making more sense now.

So, what was this footage he found? Well, it just happened to be about two other film students trying to prove something exists. Oh yeah. Found footage inception going on here. These two students, Sophia & Feldman, are working on a project for their class & their subject of choice is an urban legend known as “Peeping Tom” (a.k.a “Blink Man”). Legend has it that if you stare down this particular tunnel at a particular time, Peeping Tom will appear, and every time you blink he gets closer to you until you eventually die (of course).

SIDEBAR: I had never heard of this urban legend until I watched this movie, so I did a little digging & the earliest I can find mention of this legend was in 2014 (and that article states it dates back to the Great Depression). “Butterfly Kisses” wasn’t released until 2018, so it was refreshing to hear of a new take on (perhaps real) folklore.

What follows is a mixture of creepy footage reveals, wavering credibility, and a decent amount of interviews to keep things moving. It’s interesting to watch the descent of both the original students, as well as the man who found the footage.

Now with the general synopsis out of the way, let’s get into why you should consider watching this movie despite it belonging to an over-exposed genre. The cuts between the footage Gavin found, the footage OF Gavin from the documentary crew, and the dialogue of just the documentary crew make for an interesting 3-dimensional story-within a story-within a story. As much as this is a mashup of 3 stories, it is fairly easy to follow given the order in which it’s presented to you. You feel all too invested in the outcome, and the ending is ambiguous enough to make you feel satisfied, yet still curious.

Another thing to consider; there’s apparently a decently sized community on the internet who isn’t sure if “Butterfly Kisses” is a real documentary. Though with a little digging, it becomes apparent that it’s not. Eduardo Sanchez of the Blair Witch Project appears as “himself” so that should be enough proof that this is in fact, fiction. But still, any found footage film that makes you question if it’s a serious documentary should get a few brownie points.

The acting from Gavin’s character leaves a little bit to be desired, but the “interviews” conducted with tertiary characters are quite convincing. There are also a few surprise elements from the original found footage that add to the entertainment value. The legend of Peeping Tom is eerie, and as a fan of obscure urban legends, it gets at least one thumbs up from me.

All in all, it’s a great afternoon filler. Alternating between regular “shaky cam” and steady documentary-style interviews helps to add to believability. Some genres need a little reboot & I feel this film achieves that well. It probably won’t be the best movie you watch this month, but it’s honestly worth checking out.

“Butterfly Kisses” is available for free on Tubi & Vudu, and with a membership on Amazon Prime (2020)