‘Butterfly Jam’ Review: Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough & Harry Melling Star In Kantemir Balagov’s Softer, Affectionate Take On Masculinity [Cannes]

Kantemir Balagov, whose “Beanpole” made waves on the international festival circuit in 2019, returns to Cannes with his third feature and one of the year’s most anticipated films, “Butterfly Jam.” At only 34, Balagov’s filmmaking is refined and cinephilic, on par with global and European masters, with a throughline of identity pulsing beneath the exquisite formalism of his work. His debut feature, “Closeness,” was set in his hometown of Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria autonomous republic in the Caucasus Mountains, and drew on his own experiences. At the same time, “Beanpole” offered a broader, though no less affecting, reading of Russia’s Soviet past. “Butterfly Jam” is set in Newark. Still, its characters are Circassian transplants played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, American actor Riley Keough, and British actor Harry Melling, in the true spirit of New Jersey as a melting pot.

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Turkish-American actor Talha Akdogan plays the lead role of Temir, or Pyteh, meaning “little one” in Circassian, a teenage wrestler with kind eyes and the shy demeanor of someone who had to grow up very quickly. One look at his father, Azik, reveals why. An overexcited manchild whose heart is nevertheless pure, Azik cooks in his sister Zalya’s Circassian diner, where his delens—potato and cheese pies—are legendary. Yet when we first meet him, he is in the back room discussing business with suspicious figures, including his close friend Marat, whose idea of a joke is to hold someone at gunpoint for laughs. Between the meekness of his father and the frightening presence of Marat, Temir has to shape his own idea of masculinity in this bittersweet coming-of-age story.

Along the way, Temir develops a close friendship with fellow wrestler Alika, played by Jaliyah Richards, whose quiet determination electrifies the screen whenever she is on screen. Both Richards and Akdogan are newcomers to acting, and placing them at the heart of the film, surrounded by the much more experienced Keoghan, Keough, and Melling, is a gamble that pays off. Both performers build confidence out of fragility as the narrative unfolds, something achievable only with great directorial care and an empathetic kind of freedom. Similarly, a rare bird plays an important role in the plot and is responsible for one of the most wondrous deus ex machina moments in recent cinema, another instance of pure film magic that cannot be forced.

“Butterfly Jam” is a father-son story with a pronounced interest in what shapes the vision we have of our parents, even when we witness all their shortcomings—to that end, casting Keoghan as a young single dad reads as a marker of how Temir sees him: forever young, goofy, and too reckless for his own good. Azik burns bright, especially since the film’s very first scene announces an upcoming tragedy, but his part is to serve as a mirror, a heightened version of the “cool dad” trope, full of sadness and affection.

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Against the austere beauty of “Beanpole,” “Butterfly Jam” can certainly seem messy as it borrows from the crime thriller, depicts a merciless act of violence, and, at times, borders on magical realism. But Balagov’s newest film also has the biggest heart. With its soulful dedication to people’s daily lives and their search for belonging, the film is open and accepting of its characters’ dreams and failures, echoing the promise given by Franz Rogowski’s character in Andrea Arnold’s “Bird”—a sister film to “Butterfly Jam” in many ways—that eventually, everything will be okay. [B]

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Savina Petkova

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