‘Butterfly Jam’: Kantemir Balagov’s Long-Awaited Return Is a Shaky, Directionless Misfire [Cannes]

Kantemir Balagov’s last film was “Beanpole,” which premiered at Cannes in 2019. It was a fascinating, disturbing, and wildly uneven war drama, yet impressively unflinching in its authenticity.

He hasn’t directed a feature since, but Balagov is now back with “Butterfly Jam,” which was originally set to shoot in Russia before the filmmaker exiled himself to the United States a few years ago. He ultimately decided to rewrite the story and relocate it to a Circassian diaspora community in New Jersey. Barry Keoghan, Talha Akdogan, Riley Keough, and Harry Melling star.

The result is something of a disaster: a disjointed, shaky-cam melodrama that tries—and fails—to grapple with its themes. It’s forgettable, losing steam almost immediately.

Premiering in Directors’ Fortnight, “Butterfly Jam” revolves around a teenager (Akdogan) whose father (Keoghan) and aunt (Keough) run a struggling diner specializing in Circassian cuisine. When he’s not helping out at the restaurant, the boy trains to become a professional wrestler, which is where he strikes a friendship with a painfully shy teammate ashamed of her back acne.

There’s a twist midway through the film that I won’t reveal, it involves severely repressed tension, but by that point the movie has already blown a flat tire. The story never truly gets going—and at some point, a freaking pelican shows up and somehow becomes central to the film’s themes.

There’s a glaring lack of direction here, and little authenticity in its pursuit of realism. I’m inclined to blame it on Balagov’s attempt to make a film outside his native tongue. It’s never easy making the transition — just ask Wong Kar-wai — but I did not expect something this mediocre.

Rather than meaningfully exploring New Jersey’s Circassian community, building atmosphere, fleshing out a thin story, Balagov seems more interested in back acne, Monica Bellucci—no, really—and that freaking pelican.