"Butterfly Jam is contrived, tonally uncertain, implausible and frankly plain silly in its underpowered kind of magic-unrealism, with some clunky secondhand Mean Streets mob-fraternal dialogue and pedantic ethnic-foodie cred, and elliptically positioning key scenes off camera for no obviously satisfying reason."
"Barry Keoghan plays Azik, a widower who with his longsuffering pregnant sister Zalda (Riley Keough) runs a Circassian food diner in Newark; as chef he cooks a sublime delens a delicious cheese and potato dish to his own (secret) recipe, accessorised with delicious jams, one of which, he whimsically announces, is made of butterflies."
"Azik is happy enough in the little diner, but wonders if he could make more money working in one of the flashy restaurants owned by big-shot Kantik (Zaramok Bachok), a successful guy from the neighbourhood. He is also exasperated at having to tolerate, and look out for, an irritating and boorish loser in his circle, his beta-male buddy called Marat (Harry Melling) whose insecure rough-housing always looks like escalating into violence."
"Under the banter there is a macho undercurrent: who is the winner and who is the loser, who is strong and who is weak? Driven by an extravagant and romantic caprice, Azik captures a wild pelican that had been featured on the local TV news and keep"
A Circassian food diner in Newark is run by Azik, a widower, with his pregnant sister Zalda. Azik cooks from a secret recipe and serves dishes and jams, including one he claims is made of butterflies. His teen son Temir wrestles and dreams of Olympic success while developing a crush on another wrestler. Azik considers leaving the diner for a flashy restaurant owned by a successful local figure. He also deals with a boorish friend whose rough behavior suggests escalating violence. The story turns on Azik’s extravagant romantic impulse to capture a wild pelican featured on local TV news, blending realism with implausible magic-unrealism.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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