63
A reasonably sensitive and occasionally insightful look into the mind and psyche of an impassioned and deeply troubled artist.
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60
Carice van Houten (Black Book) is superb as the emotionally unstable Jonker - all manically beaming highs and depressively gloomy lows, a tempestuous force of nature in a movie that too often plays it blandly polite.
50
Art, politics, and craziness conspire to form a rather mechanical melodrama in Black Butterflies.
75
Neither another bland biopic about a self-destructive artist nor an historical scrapbook about a country in the grip of slavery, Black Butterflies is a dark, moving depiction of the life and death of a brave rebellious, idiosyncratic woman who made significant strides toward changing the world around her and paid a heavy toll for her passion.
80
The uncompromising power of Ingrid Jonker's poetry runs like a pulsing vein through Black Butterflies.
58
At least Black Butterflies gets the tortured-soul part right.
90
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
In its jagged style and tone Black Butterflies is as close to an inside-out view of Jonker's tumultuous life as a movie could go without sinking into chaos. Its hues are continuously changing, and the seaside weather around Cape Town reflects her tempestuous emotional life.
50
The script is cliché-ridden and ends on an overly sentimental note.