Two-time Oscar nominee Judy Davis and Bridgerton star Florence Hunt are set to lead Butterfly Stroke, a poignant and darkly comic new drama from director Denis Rabaglia. The film is all set to begin production on July 28.
Butterfly Stroke follows Ruth (Davis), a fiercely independent British swimming champion grappling with the realities of a terminal brain tumour. Determined to take control of her fate, Ruth heads to Switzerland, where assisted dying is legal, to end her life on her own terms. But her plan takes a turn when she informs her estranged granddaughter Lori (Hunt), a fiery, impulsive teen, who rushes to Zurich, desperate to stop or at least understand her grandmother’s decision. What follows is a clash of generations, personalities, and values as Ruth’s no-nonsense demeanour disrupts the protocols of the assisted dying organisation. She butts heads with her case manager and the meticulous Dr Steiger (Caroline Peters), leading to a deadpan bureaucratic standoff.
Meanwhile, Lori’s mission becomes complicated when she meets Ingrid (Malaya Stern Takeda), a magnetic Swiss soccer player who catches her off guard emotionally. As red tape stalls Ruth’s plan, the forced delay draws Ruth and Lori into an unexpected emotional thaw, revealing the decades of pain, estrangement, and a secret that derailed Ruth’s Olympic dreams. What begins as a battle of wills turns into a surprisingly funny and touching journey toward reconciliation and acceptance.
Davis, acclaimed for A Passage to India and Husbands and Wives, brings gravitas to the role of Ruth, while Hunt continues her breakout momentum after Bridgerton and Netflix’s Cursed. Peters and Stern Takeda round out a strong supporting cast.
Written by Nat Luurtsema, Rabaglia, and Jessica Townsend, Butterfly Stroke is produced by Turnus Film’s Michael Steiger and Michela Pini and Zephyr Films’ Chris Curling and Anya Ryzhenkova. Executive producers include Thierry Wase-Bailey and Henriette Wollmann for Celsius.
