In the Time of the Butterflies
2001·TV Movie·1h 35m
6.9
★
Based on the book by Julia Alvarez. Three sisters become activists during the Dominican Republic's Trujillo regime when members of their family are killed by the government's troops.
Directed by Mariano Barroso
government
dictatorship
butterfly
dominican republic
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Salma Hayek Pinault
Minerva Mirabal
Edward James Olmos
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Mía Maestro
Mate Mirabal
Demián Bichir
Manolo Tavárez
Pilar Padilla
Dedé Mirabal
Lumi Cavazos
Patria Mirabal
Marc Anthony
Lio
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
Captain Peña
Ana Martín
Mercedes Reyes
Fernando Becerril
Enrique Mirabal
Ana Layevska
Lina Lobatón
Roger Cudney
Manuel de Moya
Crew
Mariano Barroso
Director
Van Dyke Parks
Original Music Composer
Éva Gárdos
Editor
Xavier Grobet
Director of Photography
Diane Sokolow
Co-Producer
Salma Hayek Pinault
Executive Producer
Tony Bill
Executive Producer
Mike Medavoy
Executive Producer
María Estela Fernández
Costume Design
Popular Reviews
32 reviews
Sam
7.0★ · 03/09/26
Today we watched this movie in Spanish class and here’s my friend and my review:
(My friend’s) The time and space placing was kinda off, with unnecessary time skips, and it focuses a bit too much on her love life (which is connected to the story, but it gets to a point that is a little too novella-like) and on the shock value, without focusing a lot on the plot itself from time to time, making it feel sloppy or rushed sometimes. Despite being a theater movie, it feels A LOT like a tv movie, especially with the cutouts.
Still better than doing work in Spanish class though.
(Mine) The fact that they had Spanish actors but the movie was in English, despite looking like it was made to be in spanish.
Weird space/time placing and unnecessary time skips. A lot of plot holes in the script, and scenes that look like they were “up to the viewer’s interpretation”, that could’ve been fixed by just being longer.
(My friend’s) The time and space placing was kinda off, with unnecessary time skips, and it focuses a bit too much on her love life (which is connected to the story, but it gets to a point that is a little too novella-like) and on the shock value, without focusing a lot on the plot itself from time to time, making it feel sloppy or rushed sometimes. Despite being a theater movie, it feels A LOT like a tv movie, especially with the cutouts.
Still better than doing work in Spanish class though.
(Mine) The fact that they had Spanish actors but the movie was in English, despite looking like it was made to be in spanish.
Weird space/time placing and unnecessary time skips. A lot of plot holes in the script, and scenes that look like they were “up to the viewer’s interpretation”, that could’ve been fixed by just being longer.
Today we watched this movie in Spanish class and here’s my friend and my review:
(My friend’s) The time and space placing was kinda off, with unnecessary time skips, and it focuses a bit too much on her love life (which is connected to the story, but it gets to a point that is a little too novella-like) and on the shock value, without focusing a lot on the plot itself from time to time, making it feel sloppy or rushed sometimes. Despite being a theater movie, it feels A LOT like a tv movie, especially with the cutouts.
Still better than doing work in Spanish class though.
(Mine) The fact that they had Spanish actors but the movie was in English, despite looking like it was made to be in spanish.
Weird space/time placing and unnecessary time skips. A lot of plot holes in the script, and scenes that look like they were “up to the viewer’s interpretation”, that could’ve been fixed by just being longer.
(My friend’s) The time and space placing was kinda off, with unnecessary time skips, and it focuses a bit too much on her love life (which is connected to the story, but it gets to a point that is a little too novella-like) and on the shock value, without focusing a lot on the plot itself from time to time, making it feel sloppy or rushed sometimes. Despite being a theater movie, it feels A LOT like a tv movie, especially with the cutouts.
Still better than doing work in Spanish class though.
(Mine) The fact that they had Spanish actors but the movie was in English, despite looking like it was made to be in spanish.
Weird space/time placing and unnecessary time skips. A lot of plot holes in the script, and scenes that look like they were “up to the viewer’s interpretation”, that could’ve been fixed by just being longer.
Deven Patel
4.0★ · 11/06/25
why wasn’t this in spanish
why wasn’t this in spanish
Anthony Giglio
5.0★ · 06/02/25
I watched this in Spanish Class in HS, and since I'm a teacher now I'm realizing my teacher really had jackshit for us to do LOL
I watched this in Spanish Class in HS, and since I'm a teacher now I'm realizing my teacher really had jackshit for us to do LOL
Will Bray
4.0★ · 04/13/25
I had to watch this film for a Spanish course and completely forgot to log it, however, it wasn’t very good. Edward James Olmos and Salma Hayek surprised me, but their appearances alone couldn’t save the film, especially with how terrible their acting was. It was very cool to see the story of the Mirabal sisters on screen, but the amount that the director got wrong and changed didn’t really sit right with me. Overall, an okay film but one that I will probably not revisit any time soon.
I had to watch this film for a Spanish course and completely forgot to log it, however, it wasn’t very good. Edward James Olmos and Salma Hayek surprised me, but their appearances alone couldn’t save the film, especially with how terrible their acting was. It was very cool to see the story of the Mirabal sisters on screen, but the amount that the director got wrong and changed didn’t really sit right with me. Overall, an okay film but one that I will probably not revisit any time soon.
Ryan
6.0★ · 03/18/25
I feel like it should’ve been longer
I feel like it should’ve been longer