Butterfly on a Wheel

Plot

Chicago residents Neil Randall (Gerard Butler) and his wife, Abby Randall (Maria Bello) have the perfect life and a perfect marriage. With their beautiful young daughter, Sophie, they are living the American dream... until today. When Sophie is suddenly kidnapped, they have no choice but to comply with the abductor's demands. The kidnapper, Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan), an apparent sociopath, takes over their lives with the brutal efficiency of someone who has nothing to lose.

In the blink of an eye, Neil and Abby's safe and secure existence is turned upside down. Over the next twenty-four hours they are at the mercy of a man who wants only one thing: that they do his bidding. It soon becomes clear that Ryan's demands are all the more terrifying because he doesn't want their money. What he wants is Neil and Abby's life, the life they have built over 10 years, to be systematically dismantled and destroyed, piece by piece.

With time running out on their little girl, Neil and Abby realize their nightmare is just about to begin. They will have to submit to Ryan's challenges over the next 24-hour period. Tom asks them, how far will they go to save their child? He requires them to withdraw more than $100,000 from their bank, which Tom burns and throws along with their wallets into a river. Then he requires them to get $300 from nowhere in a part of the town where they don't have any friends. Abby pawns her bracelet and Neil his watch to get the $300. He then requires Abby to deliver a document to Neil's office within 20 min, and Tom show Neil a copy of document that contains details of Neil's hacking into customer accounts, which if leaked will ruin Neil. Neil watches Abby deliver the document from a distance. Neil and Abby try to rescue Sophie from a hotel, only to get caught by Tom, who makes Abby take off her dress and put on an enticing, short dress in front of both of them.

Tom has one last test for Neil to save Sophie: he requires Neil to enter a house and kill the occupant - a coworker named Judy who Neil has been having an affair with. Neil is greeted warmly by Judy, and is desperately confused as he sees a picture of Tom on the mantel and learns that he and Judy are married. Tom enters the house and tells Neil to shoot Judy or he will kill their daughter Sophie. Neil pulls the trigger but the gun isn't loaded. Ryan reveals he knows about their affair and tells Neil his daughter is safe at home.

As they return home, Neil lies to Abby and tells her that his boss was having an affair with Judy and Tom mistook Neil for that person, which is why Tom had tormented them the whole day. When they return home, Sophie is asleep and apparently has been there the whole time. Abby reveals to Neil that their daughter had never been kidnapped, and Tom had concocted the entire day to let Neil experience for one day the pain he has undergone. Neil says that Abby has ruined his career by delivering the document to his office, but she tells him it was blank. Abby has paid Neil back for 24 hours a portion of the pain she has experienced since learning of his affair.

Cast

Production

Pierce Brosnan joined the film's cast in late 2005. Maria Bello and Gerard Butler joined production on 19 January 2006.

Filming began in February 2006 and finished the following May. Vancouver stands in for Chicago but the production shot in the latter city for landscapes before moving to the United Kingdom for post-production. Filming also took place in Los Angeles.

Remake

The 2010 Indian Malayalam film Cocktail is an uncredited remake of Butterfly on a Wheel.

The 2014 Indian Tamil film Athithi is also an uncredited remake of Butterfly on a Wheel.