X
- 1994
- R
- Miramax
- 1 h 39 m
- 1994
- R
- Miramax
- 1 h 39 m
Summary Two teenage girls share a unique bond; their parents, concerned that the friendship is too intense, separate them, and the girls take revenge.
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Written By: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
- 1994
- R
- Miramax
- 1 h 39 m
- 1994
- R
- Miramax
- 1 h 39 m
Heavenly Creatures
7.2
Summary Two teenage girls share a unique bond; their parents, concerned that the friendship is too intense, separate them, and the girls take revenge.
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Written By: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
86
90% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
86
90% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Heavenly Creatures, which remains Jackson's best movie, his most serious and his most daring, is 99 minutes long and doesn't waste a single one. It manages to be both shocking and intoxicating, a portrait of giddy teenage escapism which yanks itself free from reality in disturbing, and finally deadly, ways. Jackson has an obvious flair for fantasy - an obsession with it, one might say - but this is a film about its dangers, not just its temptations. [17 Nov 2012]
Jackson has called "Creatures" a "murder story about love, a murder story with no villains." His generous approach makes it an unforgettable experience.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 User Ratings
7.2
72% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
22% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 User Ratings
7.2
72% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
22% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
One of the best films and performances that I've ever seen. Kate Winslet nears perfection.
Report
I don't have any words besides stated Heavenly Creatures as The Darkest True Story Movie I've Ever Watch and definitely One Of The Darkest Movie I've Ever Watch in terms of all movie genre, Jackson's direction nailed at everything, making this two girls fantasy sometimes disturbing, with Melanie Lynskey terrifying eyes look and performance, and of course Kate Winslet impressive performance, the rest was absolutely amazing too, it's dark, it's terrifying, it's not a horror movie but it's a truly nightmare.
Report
What is missing is some balance; Pauline and Juliet are portrayed from their own idealized point-of-view, while parents and others who object to them are as silly, pompous and uncaring as the girls obviously perceived. Crime doesn't pay in Heavenly Creatures, but it's rationalized in expert, provocative fashion. [6 Jan 1995, p.7]
Jackson uses seamless, state-of-the-art visual effects to capture the girls' shared fantasies. One would expect nothing less from the director of the technically proficient horror movie, "Dead/Alive." The surprise here, and the key to the film's success, is his casting and handling of the young unknowns playing the girls. [23 Nov 1994, p.D3]
A disturbing, boldly conceived story.
But the most piercing thing about Heavenly Creatures is Jackson's refusal to forgive the girls. He indeed understands them and empathizes with them. But when he has to, he exposes the horrid squalor and ugliness of the crime, which, after all, was a blood-soaked execution, crude as anything done in Rwanda. [9 Dec 1994]
Unlike the campy excess of Jackson's earlier Dead Alive, this kind of deliberate overkill—which extends to the broad caricatures of the girls' families as well as the girls' feverish fantasy life—ultimately points toward a dearth of ideas rather than a surfeit, though the story remains sufficiently interesting and troubling to hold one's attention.
Two New Zealand girls build a fantasy universe in which they live a friendship bordering on the morbid. When the threat of separation looms, the two friends decide to eliminate the main obstacle: the mother of one of them. This story of "innocent crimes" is the visionary reconstruction of a chilling news story that really happened forty years earlier in Christchurch, New Zealand. In a beautiful film by Peter Jackson, perhaps the best of his filmography. Really remarkable direction and cinematography.
Report
Production Company
WingNut Films,
Fontana Productions,
New Zealand Film Commission,
Senator Film Produktion
Release Date Nov 16, 1994
Duration 1 h 39 m
Rating R
Tagline The true story of a crime that shocked a nation.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
New Zealand Film and TV Awards (I)
• 9 Wins & 10 Nominations
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
