Butterfly Kiss 1996

Eunice, a bisexual serial killer, travels along the bleak motorways of Lancashire, searching filling stations for a mysterious woman named Judith, always asking if the cashier’s name is Judith. After searching fruitlessly at one, she travels outside and douses herself with petrol. The cashier, Miriam, dashes out and offers her to stay for the night at her apartment, where she lives with her invalid grandmother, on their way Eunice shows Miriam a stack of letters she claims were written by Judith. At the apartment, Eunice strips off her clothes revealing herself to be covered in chains, piercings and tattoos, Eunice seduces Miriam, only to leave the following morning, writing “your not Judith” on her mirror in toothpaste. Eunice hitches a ride with a delivery driver named Tony, whom she seduces, murdering him while they are having sex, stealing his van. Miriam, abandoning her grandmother, catches up with Eunice by hitchhiking with Mr. McDermott, a friend of hers, joining her in the stolen van.

As the two arrive at a forest, Eunice reveals the corpse of Tony, Miriam offers to help her conceal the evidence, and drags the body out to bury it. Eunice abandons Miriam and goes to a nearby restaurant, leaving Miriam to deal with the corpse. At the diner she meets a waitress, Angela and invites her to sit at her table. Eunice returns to Miriam who, overcome to see her return fawns over Eunice in gratitude. The two sleep in a stolen car and take off the following morning, after Miriam finds Eunice walking along the beach.

As they eat breakfast at a filling station café, Eunice attempts to stop Miriam from following her, commanding her to go home, though Miriam refuses. At the filling station, they pick up two hitchhikers, Gary and his 12 year old daughter, Katie, on their way to Morecambe. On their way, Eunice takes a detour to an amusement park. Whilst Eunice is away from the car, Miriam discovers the body of Angela in the boot, and refuses to allow Gary and Katie to travel any further with them. As they are about to leave the park, Eunice spots Katie sitting alone and orders Miriam to find Gary. When Miriam and Gary arrive, they find Eunice standing by the car alone, who tells Gary that Katie went off to find him, sending him away in turn. As Eunice and Miriam travel away, Miriam sits in silence, believing she has murdered Katie. Katie then pops up in the back seat, frightening Miriam. Miriam forces Eunice to pull over and leaves Katie by the side of the road, telling her to find someone to take her back to the park. On a bridge over the motorway, Eunice explains that she could not kill Katie only because Katie refused to look at her, she curses God for having forgotten her and allowing her to get away with such horrific crimes. To comfort her, Miriam assures her that she will stay with her and do all she can to make her a better person, Eunice coldly tells her it is impossible.

As they come to a truck stop, they get rid of the stolen car and meet a philosophical truck driver named Robert who Eunice strikes up conversation with. After making a light-hearted joke at her expense, Eunice invites Robert to have sex with the two of them, putting forward Miriam, after she is hesitant, Eunice orders her to do what she says, disappearing into the night. As Robert begins to have sex with Miriam, Eunice, hearing Miriam’s cries, returns and bludgeons Robert to death with a stolen headlight, stealing his lorry. At the next filling station, Eunice asks, as normal, if the cashier’s name is Judith, when she says that it is, Eunice kisses her, the woman throws her off in shock stating that she has no idea who Eunice is, Eunice flies into a rage, just as Miriam intervenes and removes her from the shop.

Miriam negotiates a ride with Mr McDermott and as they go with him, Eunice begins to throw his cassettes out the window, stating that he needs to be punished. Mr McDermott, revealing himself to be a masochist, agrees with her. Mr McDermott checks the three of them into a hotel room and, whilst Miriam is out getting food begins to have sex with Eunice. When Miriam returns, she sees the two of them in the shower and, believing that McDermott is raping Eunice, beats him to death with the shower hose. Eunice calmly states that now they are both in hell. In the car as they leave, Miriam asks Eunice what she wanted to do once she found Judith. Eunice tells her that she wanted to make Judith into a religious sacrifice. As they stop the car in a remote area, Eunice tells Miriam that she wants to become the sacrifice herself. Stripping off, Miriam begins to remove the chains which Eunice wears as ‘her punishment’, as the sun rises the following morning, the two travel down to the beach where Eunice recites the bible as they march out to the sea, as the tide comes in, Eunice orders Miriam to force her head under the water, to drown her. The film closes as Miriam cradles the body of Eunice in a Pieta pose, sobbing in the midst of the rising sea.