Heavenly Creatures (1994)
86%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
17 wins & 15 nominations total
Heavenly Creatures is a cinematic masterpiece that delves into the twisted and obsessive friendship between two teenage girls, played brilliantly by Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey. Director Peter Jackson’s signature visual flair is on full display, transporting us into the girls’ rich fantasy world with ingenious and daring cinematography. The film’s exploration of imagination and its dark consequences is both thought-provoking and disturbing, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer. With a febrile vibrancy in its direction and conviction in its acting, Heavenly Creatures is a must-see for any cinephile looking for a film that is both intelligent and visually stunning.
Heavenly Creatures is a seriously twisted and dark movie that will leave you questioning your own sanity. But don’t worry, you’re not alone. Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey give incredible performances as two teenage girls whose friendship takes a deadly turn. Director Peter Jackson’s visual style is on full display here, with a fantastical world that’s both beautiful and terrifying. Just be prepared to feel a little uneasy after watching this masterpiece of ’90s art house cinema.
Production Company(ies)
Wildwood Enterprises
Distributor
Miramax Home Entertainment [us], Miramax Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for a chilling murder and some sexuality
Year of Release
1994
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 39m
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:Germany, New Zealand
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 16, 1994 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 24, 2002
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison, Simon O’Connor, directed by Peter Jackson, written by Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Mystery & thriller, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Drew Gregory, Owen Gleiberman, David Rooney, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Geoff Andrew, Joe Williams, Charles Mudede, Jas Keimig, Yasmin Omar, Nick Levine, Ed Travis, produced by Jim Booth, R-rated, New Zealand, friendship, obsession, murder, Mario Lanza, adolescence, diary, surreal, art, film technique, Orson Welles, The Third Man, character study, psyche, adolescent young women, dark, stylish, captivating, cult director, Kate Winslet’s auspicious debut
Worldwide gross: $3,049,135
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,168,782
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,110
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 672,713
US/Canada gross: $3,049,135
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,168,782
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,748
US/Canada opening weekend: $31,592
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $63,915
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,119
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $5,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $10,115,627
Production budget ranking: 1,660
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,447,265
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$9,394,110
ROI to date (est.): -60%
ROI ranking: 1,745
Kate Winslet – Juliet Hulme
Sarah Peirse – Honora Parker Rieper
Diana Kent – Hilda Hulme
Clive Merrison – Dr. Henry Hulme
Simon O’Connor – Herbert Rieper
Director(s)
Peter Jackson
Writer(s)
Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Producer(s)
Jim Booth
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
17 wins & 15 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (56) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (4)
This is a film that cares about its subjects’ point of views and lets us inside its subjects’ point of views. The film begins and ends in blood but there are so many moments where the reality is tempting to forget.
November 11, 2020
Drew Gregory
Autostraddle
TOP CRITIC
Lynskey and Winslet are extraordinary actresses.
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B+
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Combines original vision, a drop-dead command of the medium and a successful marriage between a dazzling, kinetic techno-show and a complex, credible portrait of the out-of-control relationship between the crime’s two schoolgirl perpetrators.
February 11, 2008
David Rooney
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Unlike the campy excess of Jackson’s earlier Dead Alive, deliberate overkill ltimately points toward a dearth of ideas rather than a surfeit.
February 11, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Acted with conviction, and directed and written with febrile vibrancy.
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
July 7, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
When watching this masterpiece of ’90s art house cinema, keep your eye on how the relationship between Juliet and Pauline is structured.
March 1, 2022
Charles Mudede
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
Jackson gives a lot of space to these girls’ emotions and fantasies-a sweeping soundtrack, epic scenes set on beautiful New Zealand cliffs, fantastical butterflies…
December 9, 2021
Jas Keimig
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
Heavenly Creatures poses the uneasy question: what should you do if your kindred spirit brings out the worst in you?
June 25, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Yasmin Omar
Harper’s Bazaar
Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey – both brilliant – play teenage girls whose intense friendship and obsession with a fantasy world of their own creation ultimately culminates in murder. It’s a seriously dark and disturbing gem.
May 10, 2021
Nick Levine
NME
Jackson’s signature visual flair has a lot of opportunity to display itself here. The girls’ rich fantasy world is portrayed in an ingenious visual manner.
April 1, 2020
Ed Travis
Hollywood Jesus
With wit and daring, Jackson whisks us around two adolescent girls’ minds, on a guided tour of their most garish fantasies and deluded, delirious dreams. Imagination is both the film’s subject, and its strength.
December 14, 2017
Quentin Curtis
Independent on Sunday…
Plot
Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme met in school during the 1950s. Instant best friends, they proceeded to spend every minute possible together, often writing about a fantasy land of their own invention. More and more estranged from their respective families, the two girls realise that they are extremely different from most other people, and agree to take any steps necessary to ensure that they are not seperated. The two families are increasingly concerned about the girls’ friendship in a strictly moralistic era.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film is notable for being the debut of Kate Winslet as well as the arrival of Peter Jackson as a serious director.
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