Title: Butterfly Caught
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Manny Rodriguez Jr.
Starring: Alex Sgambati, Jess Jacobs, Abigail Klein
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

What It Is: Naomi (Sgambati), Elsa (Klein) and Joe (Jacobs) are three struggling actresses just trying to make it in Los Angeles by any means necessary. Naomi stays fit by exercising and practicing her lines incessantly. Elsa is new in town and doesn’t quite get the minutiae of Hollywood and how it works. Joe has settled on more, sinister, means in order to get a leg up. She’s addicted to drugs. The three have more secrets then they let on. Dangerously so.

What We Think: A huge issue I want to address right off the jump is the storyline with Adam Ambruso’s character Randy which never develops enough to me to warrant it’s ending. Seriously Manny (Rodriguez) what’s going on there? Regardless the acting is spot on and I don’t have a single complaint there. Structurally there aren’t many issues outside of the previously touched on ones. Outside of this I’d say Manny Rodriguez did an excellent job directing this. His passion for his own written words and characters drip from beyond the lens. These ladies feel real, their problems feel real, their situations unfortunately tangible.

Our Grade: B-, Overall this is a film I can recommend you check out for sure. Not only will you be pleasantly surprised by the production budget here, especially given how good the film looks, but you’ll enjoy the strong story and even stronger characters. This films bread and butter is the relationships Rodriguez puts to page and for all but one character they all sort of work and fit within the construct of the work itself. Like I said certainly a recommendation especially for those looking to see a film about the dark side to fame and possible fortune.