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Isolde tells a story about having sex with her masseur at a seedy massage parlor. They attend some of the music classes and meet a few of the other campers. Isolde finds one guy in particular, Steph, to be very annoying, but Sarah thinks he's cute. That night Sarah dances with Steph, but right when they seem to be forming a connection he abruptly leaves. Sarah finds him outside talking to Isolde. On the way back to their cabin, Sarah asks Isolde if she's alright, and how she managed to get out of that strange house she'd awoken in. Isolde immediately changes the subject and tells a dirty joke.
351:, Decker has shown she knows how to craft a conventional film. It’s clear that her blender-style editing technique and oblique approach to narrative, along with Connor’s blurry, randomly framed cinematography, are artistically motivated decisions which they have every right to make. Some of those decisions, if made with discretion and restraint, might have been quite effective. But slapped altogether like this, the film just looks a mess, apart from some of the rather pretty shots of banana slugs and redwoods."
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the wilderness. They find a spot near the river and begin to make out and undress. Sarah keeps getting distracted by a noise, but Steph laughs it off and says she's imagining it. She pushes him into the water while they are kissing, and suddenly has a series of quick flashes of visions of her and Isolde. When she comes to, she sees Steph's body lying face-down in the river.
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Some time later, Sarah heads to a Balkan music camp for a few days. As she walks to the campground, she runs into her friend Isolde, and the two of them are very excited to see each other. While brushing their teeth, they catch up on their lives, especially their recent failed romantic relationships.
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She stumbles back to the cabin, screaming and crying, and walks in on Steph and Isolde having sex. She runs outside, but when she immediately looks in again, Isolde is fast asleep. Isolde comforts her, but soon says she wants to just go back to sleep. Sarah wanders back to the large group song still
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noted that "... Decker has fashioned the kind of feature debut the film industry simply doesn’t support, but would do well to encourage: a visually poetic, virtually free-form groove in which emotion, rather than narrative, guides viewers through a young woman’s visit to a Balkan folk music camp."
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Isolde continues to act distant the next day. Sarah talks to one of the teachers about
Bulgarian folk lore, and the woman explains that sometimes things that are normally good can become evil if they are inhabited by an evil spirit. During a large group song outside, Sarah and Steph sneak off into
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Sarah runs into Steph again the next day, and together they have lunch and attend a music class. At night, Sarah finds Steph and Isolde pretending to fight each other. Isolde gets drunk, and Sarah offers to walk her back to their cabin. They get lost in the woods, which Isolde blames on Sarah, and
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praised the film, stating "The different techniques Decker uses—the improvised dialogue that feels like listening to one side of a phone conversation, the woozy cinematography and sound design, the disorienting editing—create a sense of claustrophobia. The film’s world is beautiful and scary, but
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The crew consisted of only three people: Decker, Connor, and a sound recordist. Decker had a background in performance art, and Connor's background was in experimental films, so they created a new visual style for the film which synthesized both of these. Most of the acting was improvised, which
169:
Sarah is getting out of a dance performance when she receives a phone call from her friend. The friend tells her that she's woken up in an unfamiliar place with strange people, and she doesn't remember how she got there. Sarah gets upset and repeatedly tells her to try to get out of the house.
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Isolde storms off into the woods to look for the cabin on her own. The next day Isolde is distant and dismissive. Sarah continues to spend time with Steph, but when she invites him to her cabin, he declines. That night Sarah dreams of Isolde dancing with a group of women in the woods.
29:
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also praised the film, commenting that Decker "...never tries to impose a conventional narrative structure on the proceedings, and the ambiguities develop their own bizarrely compelling rhythm" and that her career is "one to keep an eye on." Peter
Debruge of
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camera, but Connor decided to use the blurriness of the shots intentionally to help tell the story. The film was shot over six days at an actual Balkan folk music camp, with additional pickup shots filmed during post production.
161:. It tells the story of Sarah and Isolde attending a Balkan music camp, the eroding friendship between them, and the budding romance between Sarah and a male camper named Steph.
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received a mostly positive response from critics. It currently hold a 78% positive rating at the review aggregator
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401:"'Madeline's Madeline': Why the Dreamy Movie's Surreal Imagery Took Six Years and Many Experiments to Get Right"
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with a
November 2014 release. The two films screened in New York for a week starting on November 4, 2014.
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described the film as a "pretentious low-budget effort" and added, "With her fitfully charming short
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761:"A Sexy, Wild Romp You Have to See to Believe: Josephine Decker's 'Butter on the Latch'"
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in its list of the 20 Best
Undistributed films of 2013. Upon seeing the film listed in
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thrives on its casually true snapshots of confusion and connection." Eric Kohn of
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reached out to Decker about distribution, and in
September 2014, they picked up
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in progress, and lies down nearby. She soaks in the music and cries.
244:, and went on to play at a variety of other festivals including the
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Salovaara, Sarah (Fall 2014). "When
Restoration Met Distribution".
629:"Josephine Decker's 'Butter' and 'Lovely' Bought by Cinelicious"
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also as intimate as a childhood sleepover." Nicolas Rapold of
733:"'Butter on the Latch' and 'Thou Wast Mild & Lovely' Open"
601:"Cinelicious Pics Acquires Two Raunchy Josephine Decker Films"
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the tenth best film of 2014. Decker's other 2014 film,
373:, also made Brody's top ten, coming in second place to
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157:/drama film written, produced, and directed by
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517:"Nashville Film Festival 2014: Double Decker"
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789:"Berlin Film Review: 'Butter on the Latch'"
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815:Felperin, Leslie (February 6, 2014).
731:Rapold, Nicolas (November 13, 2014).
599:Cipriani, Casey (September 5, 2014).
572:"20 Best Undistributed Films of 2013"
552:from the original on November 3, 2015
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817:"Butter on the Latch: Berlin Review"
787:Debruge, Peter (February 10, 2014).
546:Fantasia International Film Festival
515:Sicinski, Michael (April 18, 2014).
250:Fantasia International Film Festival
703:Miller, Jenni (November 13, 2014).
627:Horst, Carole (September 5, 2014).
1015:Films directed by Josephine Decker
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399:O'Falt, Chris (August 23, 2018).
432:. March 8, 2014. Archived from
341:Conversely, Leslie Felperin of
195:Isolde Chae-Lawrence as Isolde
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663:Independent Filmmaker Project
495:Independent Filmmaker Project
426:"Interview: Josephine Decker"
1025:2010s English-language films
759:Kohn, Eric (May 10, 2013).
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661:. Vol. 23. New York:
957:Thou Wast Mild and Lovely
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893:on the director's website
851:"The Best Movies of 2014"
370:Thou Wast Mild and Lovely
281:Thou Wast Mild and Lovely
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380:The Grand Budapest Hotel
246:Nashville Film Festival
201:Charlie Hewson as Steph
198:Stephan Goldbach as Guy
153:is a 2013 experimental
822:The Hollywood Reporter
462:. 2013. Archived from
460:Maryland Film Festival
344:The Hollywood Reporter
242:Maryland Film Festival
240:premiered at the 2013
222:shallow depth of field
155:psychological thriller
987:The Sky Is Everywhere
849:(December 11, 2014).
677:"Butter on the Latch"
542:"Butter on the Latch"
101:May 9, 2013
252:. In December 2013,
68:Isolde Chae-Lawrence
971:Madeline's Madeline
949:Butter on the Latch
881:Butter on the Latch
580:. December 16, 2013
466:on October 19, 2013
365:Butter on the Latch
322:Butter on the Latch
298:Butter on the Latch
274:for theatrical and
272:Butter on the Latch
260:Butter on the Latch
238:Butter on the Latch
150:Butter on the Latch
22:Butter on the Latch
927:Films directed by
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658:Filmmaker Magazine
491:Filmmaker Magazine
487:"Josephine Decker"
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258:magazine included
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468:. Retrieved
464:the original
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456:"Film Guide"
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122:Running time
94:Release date
485:ND (2013).
205:Sarah Small
75:Sarah Small
57:Produced by
39:Directed by
33:Film poster
1010:2013 films
1004:Categories
941:Bi the Way
556:January 5,
526:January 5,
387:References
215:Production
126:72 minutes
105:2013-05-09
78:Yury Yakor
49:Written by
766:Indiewire
606:Indiewire
405:Indiewire
327:Indiewire
288:Reception
224:of their
111:Baltimore
550:Archived
440:June 28,
248:and the
207:as Sarah
139:Language
65:Starring
979:Shirley
794:Variety
634:Variety
430:NoBudge
334:Variety
233:Release
142:English
131:Country
103: (
990:(2022)
982:(2020)
974:(2018)
966:(2017)
964:Flames
960:(2014)
952:(2013)
944:(2008)
109: (
886:IMDb
864:2014
830:2014
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718:2014
690:2014
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226:DSLR
190:Cast
165:Plot
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