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Heathers
New World Pictures

Heathers reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 73 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.4 out of 10
based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R

Starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Penelope Milford, Lance Fenton, and Patrick Labyorteaux

A razor sharp black comedy about high school politics centers on Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) who joins an exclusive clique of popular girls named Heather (Walker, Doherty, Falk) and plays along with her new boyfriend J.D. (Slater) in a series of pranks which turn into a series of murders made to look like suicides.


GENRE(S): Comedy  
WRITTEN BY: Daniel Waters  
DIRECTED BY: Michael Lehmann  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: March 30, 1999 
Video: March 24, 1998 
Theatrical: March 31, 1989 
RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
It's shockingly funny - you don't sit there deciding to laugh. Your own laughter catches you by surprise. [14 Apr 1989]
100
Washington Post Rita Kempley
More than just one of the best movies so far this year, it is a revolution in young-adult entertainment.
Read Full Review
100
Washington Post Desson Thomson
Wickedly funny. In fact, Heathers may be the nastiest, cruelest fun you can have without actually having to study law or gird leather products. If movies were food, Heathers would be a cynic's chocolate binge.
Read Full Review
100
Film Threat Brad Laidman
This is an amazing black satire filled with vicious biting words that snap like firecrackers.
Read Full Review
90
Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Daniel Waters' enormously clever screenplay blazes a trail of originality through the dead wood of the teen-comedy genre.
Read Full Review
90
Newsweek David Ansen
Lehmann isn't in perfect control - the movie gets off to a flat-footed start, and the conclusion is chaotic - but when Heathers hits its stride, it reaches wild and original comic heights. [2 April 1989]
89
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Director Michael Lehmann made a stunning debut with this sharp satire of teen cliques.
Read Full Review
88
USA Today Mike Clark
It's a tough entry into the tough black-comic genre; don't be surprised if it becomes a classic. [31 March 1989]
80
Empire Emma Cochrane
Michael Lehmann’s feature debut introduced the world to Christian Slater at his Jack Nicholson, subversive best and gave Winona Ryder a career-high role.
Read Full Review
80
Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon
Heathers gave me the creeps but it also made me laugh. This bizarre variation on that Hollywood staple, the teen movie, is one weird original. [30 Mar 1989 p.A12(E)]
75
Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr
The sheer outrageousness of its attitude is enough to make Heathers a very welcome relief in a field dominated by sanctimonious and second-hand virtue. [31 March 1989]
70
Time Richard Corliss
If Michael Lehmann's direction were a bit more astute, the movie could be the classic genre mutation it aims to be: Andy Hardy meets "Badlands." [17 April 1989]
70
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
As snappy and assured as it is mean-spirited. Its originality extends well beyond the limits of ordinary high school histrionics and into the realm of the genuinely perverse.
Read Full Review
70
TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
Dark, cynical, but deliciously funny, Heathers is a fascinating look not just at high school but at the way we look at high school.
Read Full Review
63
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What sets Heathers apart from less intelligent teenage movies is that it has a point of view toward this subject matter - a bleak, macabre and bitingly satirical one.
Read Full Review
50
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The flamboyantly filmed story makes some telling points about adolescent life. But despite its oh-so-cynical mannerisms, it falls all over itself to flatter an allegedly self-absorbed and self-pitying teen audience. [7 April 1989]
50
The New Yorker Pauline Kael
Yes, it's a collection of barbs and sick jokes, but it's not fun, and it lacks a punch line...The young, inexperience director, Michael Lehmann, doesn't find the right mood for the gags. [17 Apr 1989]
40
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Succeeds at least in being offbeat, but its inanities and glib pretensions are so thick that it mainly comes across as tacky and contrived.
Read Full Review
40
Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson
Unfortunately, director Michael Lehmann's point of view is swivel-mounted: He doesn't have the courage of his cynicism. [31 Mar 1989]

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

s M gave it a9:
Guily, nasty entertainment.

Yoon Min C. gave it an 8:
Irresponsible, specious, even sick movie about teenage problems(and cowardly too with its explosive copout ending) this is still one of the few movies about teens that strikes a few genuine chords even if the effect is akin to rubbing an open sore with salt and perfume. Christian Slater is either terrifyingly comical or vice versa but it's Winona Ryder who really shines as she would in just about every role since, in movies good or bad.

[Anonymous] gave it a 10:
Thank the Movies Gods that this got made. Pre and Post Columbine this daring movie still makes me laugh, terrifies me and makes me think all at the same time.

Felicity F. gave it a 10:
Wickedly funny. "I love my dead gay son!"

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