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I have just watched the film "Finding 'Ohana". There is 1 scene in the film in which 2 boys are crawling on their knees one after another in a small tunnel (not sure "small tunnel" is a correct term).

The butt of the front boy happens to touch the face of the behind boy (see the picture)

frame from the movie

And the behind boy says "Get your butt out of my face!" (see the script) and the front boy answers "Your face is in my butt!"

Those actors are bilingual, they can speak both English and Hawaiian.

I am asking why not say "Get your butt off my face!" or "Get your butt away from my face!" and "Your face is on my butt!".

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    The expressions used in the script are natural in English.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Mar 26, 2021 at 9:16

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"In your/my/someone's face" is an idiom in English - see this. It has the sense of 'close to the face in an uncomfortable or insulting manner'. ("In your butt/bottom" is not an idiom in the same way, but it's easy to see why the boy in front uses 'in' rather than 'on' or 'against' - he's imitating what the other boy said.)

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    But "he punched me in the face" implies his fist landed on my face or came in contact with my face, not just "close to my face". Is that correct?
    – Tom
    Mar 26, 2021 at 13:46
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    Yes, that's correct.
    – Kate Bunting
    Mar 26, 2021 at 14:16

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