Review of Heavenly Creatures (1994) by Ad V — 01 Sep 2012

After making a few crazy and awesome splatstick horror comedies, Peter Jackson went into dramatic territory with this movie based on the true story of one of the most infamous crimes in New Zealand history.

Set in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1953 and 1954, this is the story of Paulina Parker and Juliet Hulme, two offbeat teen schoolgirls who don't really fit in with anyone but each other. Their friendship starts off innocently enough, but their connection soon becomes a little too intense, and their attachment to one another, and the shared fantasy world that they create for themselves begins to take hold, sometimes overriding reality, and this becomes a cause for concern that soon leads to shocking and tragic ends.

This is a prestige picture, and, while it mostly is based in reality, there are bits of fantasy, yet they are blended into everything else in such a way that they don't stick out, and really feel pretty natural in the overall scheme of things, much like how things are in The King of Comedy. This is a wonderfully gripping, haunting, and sometimes rather creepy coming-of-age thriller story.

I don't feel like it is a full on masterpiece as some do, but I do think it is very well played, extremely compelling and attention holding. The direction is really sharp, and there's some great visual effects that are very well played. The script is pretty solid, though not quite razor level. The true highlight would definitely be the acting, where we get the film debuts of both Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey, both of whom absolutely knock it out of the park and deliver some brilliant work. They are both intense, smoldering, and display an amazing flair for the craft, which is really more amazing since this is their feature debuts. When the shat hits the fan, and things get real, they get quite chilling, and the results are thoroughly unforgettable.

The wide angle lens closeups of faces does get somewhat overbearing and maybe isn't the most necessary thing in the world, but thankfully its not distracting enough to warrant docking it too many points. Overall this is a quite strong film, and I would love it if Jackson went back and made a few more films in this ilk.

Definitely give this one a look. It's some spectacular stuff.