Review of Heathers (1989) by Jluis_001 — 28 Jul 2023

For years, I put off watching this because of the mistaken belief I had that it was just another simplistic romantic comedy. I never paid much attention to it beyond knowing the names of its leads. However since MUBI added it to their catalog, my curiosity and interest were piqued once again and I've gotta say, Heathers prove me wrong.

The combination of black comedy with over-exploited teen angst is very effective even for a movie that's 35 years old, but it's really essential to treat it that way when you're talking about teenagers who live in a perpetual state of irony and sarcasm.

Even if the social commentary doesn't carry much weight, that's perfectly fine. For me, the casualness of the humor and its satire is what makes the film work so well. It shows that the director and screenwriter knew exactly what kind of story they were telling and didn't try to cover topics they could not sustain.

It's one of those rare films deserving of its cult status, because in my opinion it's a cult film that isn't bad.