Ever since his breakout role in the widely popular series Lost, Daniel Dae Kim has been killing it on the screen. Most recently, he’s been involved in projects like Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters and Avatar: The Last Airbender, but we finally get to see him take center stage in Prime Video’s Butterfly. Kim has always been outspoken about Asian representation in Hollywood, noting the significance of his leading roles for the community and as indications of progress. Additionally, there has been a wave of international interest in South Korean shows, catapulted by the likes of Squid Game and, of course, the world of K-pop.
Butterfly lives in an in-between realm, set in South Korea but performing more like a Hollywood spy thriller, and Kim is the perfect person to tell this story. With each foot set in each world, he’s the ideal conduit for either a Korean or international audience to navigate this cultural amalgamation. Kim works as the lead and an executive producer on the new six-episode series, which is a poignant family drama disguised as an action-packed spy thriller. While Kim may be at the forefront of the series, he is also joined by an equally compelling cast that includes Piper Perabo (Yellowstone) and Reina Hardesty (It’s What’s Inside).
What Is Prime Video’s ‘Butterfly’ About?
Admittedly, when the screen lit up with a cityscape and the first undeniable notes of “Mr. Brightside” rang out, I nearly wrote off the entire show. But when the camera faded into a drunken karaoke room, I bit my tongue and realized it was actually the perfect song choice — this would not be the last time Butterfly played with my expectations. The show hits the ground running, jumping right into the action and keeping viewers on their toes from the very first frame. We meet David Jung (Kim) in the middle of a mission, one that reveals itself as more high-stakes than any usual foray into espionage.
Based on a graphic novel by Arash Amel, the series follows David, a retired intelligence officer who returns to South Korea on a personal mission to bring home his estranged daughter, Rebecca (Hardesty). The catch is, Rebecca is a trained, sociopathic assassin who works for the private espionage agency he founded called Caddis. So, when they reunite, Rebecca is pulled between her innate loyalty to her father and the one drummed into her by Juno (Perabo), the leader of Caddis and David’s former partner. As we learn more about these characters’ pasts, secrets are unveiled and betrayal sets in between the cracks, pushing them to their limits of trust, love, and sacrifice.
‘Butterfly’ Is At Its Best When It Focuses on Family
As far as the spy thriller aspect of Butterfly goes, it’s fairly formulaic: we’ve got the retired guy who gets pulled back into the game, the young sociopath who needs to be humanized, the huge secret that changes everything, and the evil private corporation overlooking it all. While there are a few pleasant surprises in the plot, most of the twists are easy to predict after the first couple of episodes. That being said, it also has stunning action sequences like the genre demands. It jumps into fluid, mesmerizing choreography filmed from stylistic angles that heightens the sense of danger and talent displayed, where Kim’s, Hardesty’s, and notably, Kim Ji-hoon‘s performances cinch it.
There is one way Butterfly actually subverts the espionage formula. Spy thrillers generally cultivate an atmosphere of hold-your-breath suspense, but Butterfly is truly wall-to-wall action. It keeps up a torrential pace within its six episodes, where one narrative beat flits quickly to another, and if you look away for a second, you’ve missed a bunch of major plot points. While this decision may have been due to time restraints, it’s actually a refreshing way to present espionage, forcing viewers to hold their attention and making it more immersive. Any suspense that we would expect to be in the espionage storytelling is actually found in the family drama side, which works perfectly here.
All these critiques of the show’s plot are because Butterfly really isn’t a spy thriller; it’s a family drama, and a brilliant one at that. Espionage is the backdrop to the series’ thorough and compelling exploration of family dynamics, especially as it delves into the complexities of dissolving and restructuring the family unit. Yet it also makes sense to use the medium of a spy thriller as both genres intersect with themes of abandonment, secrecy, betrayal, and sacrifice, where guns shoot scathing words born out of pain, and confidential files are the hard-to-voice fears someone locks away. It may not be the most groundbreaking way to approach spy thrillers and family dramas, but Butterfly packs a hefty and precise punch that still stands on its own merits as a show.
Reina Hardesty Delivers an Impeccable Performance in ‘Butterfly’
While the espionage plotting in Butterfly has its pitfalls, the emotional arc that all the characters go through is beautifully developed. At the center of this is the familial love triangle between David, Rebecca, and Juno. At this point, we can rely on Kim to deliver a compelling performance, and he does so in Butterfly, reaching for all the heart the series needs as a father who is reconciling the little girl he left behind with the sociopath he needs to learn to love. Perabo also steps effortlessly into her villainous role, nuanced by her character’s ulterior motivations and the maternal instincts she’s developed for Rebecca. Another notable performance comes from Park Hae-soo (Squid Game), who has a brief role in the show, yet a funny and rather heartfelt one, but it is Hardesty who stands out here.
Rebecca’s training as an assassin shapes most of her personality, and when we meet her, she is a sociopath who enjoys killing, yet still harbors fond memories of her father, despite it being marred by feelings of abandonment and betrayal. Hardesty conveys this layered concoction of conflicting feelings, loyalties, and motivations perfectly, becoming the most unpredictable and enigmatic part of the show. Her animated performance leans into every emotion and allows the brunt of it to be felt, even as it changes in mere moments. Her chemistry with Kim and Perabo has equal weight, which makes sure viewers are kept on their toes because we truly don’t know who she will eventually side with.
It is also in Rebecca’s relationship with David where we see the most cultural inter-mingling, as David introduces her to Korean culture. From bonding over Makgeolli to having a bilingual approach to the script, the cultural landscape of the show has a lived-in and relatable feel. The locations also reflect this, with each episode being named after a city in South Korea, including “Seoul” and “Busan,” and even filming at well-known, iconic places like Seoul Station and on bullet trains. The show goes beyond the paint-by-numbers representation of just having an Asian-American lead in a Western setting and instead mixes the cultures in a dynamic and meaningful way. Butterfly may not be the mind-blowing spy thriller you expect when you first turn it on, but it’ll win you over with its heart.
Butterfly
Butterfly may be a spy thriller on the surface, but its a family drama at heart.
- Release Date
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August 13, 2025
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Kitao Sakurai
- Butterfly spares no second to pack in good storytelling, action sequences, and cultural value.
- Reina Hardesty steals the show with her nuanced, gritty performance.
- The show delivers themes of complex family dynamics, betrayal, and sacrifice really well.
- The spy thriller plot and atmosphere of the show is predictable and formulaic.
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