Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Director: Peter Jackson
Writer: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh
Cast: Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Crime, Romance, Thriller

Heavenly Creatures is based on the true story of Pauline Reiper (Lynskey) and Juliet Hulme (Winslet) of Christchurch, New Zealand. They meet when Juliet's family moves there in the early 50's, and soon bond over imagination out of this world. Two teenage girls as much living together in their fictional kingdom of Borovnia, as in reality. Increasingly obsessive about each other, we get to follow their story both in reality as well as Borovnia thanks to Pauline's original diary and director Jackson's direction.

I don't know. Times have changed, and maybe am I to exposed to deep stories these days. At least the story of our two girls are bordering on boring at times. I actually find myself longing for the end, of a movie lasting the mere 99 minutes it does. Both thanks to Jackson's own choice of the beginning of the movie, but also because there really are no ending to hope for or feel rewarded with.

The opening credits introduces both leading actresses, and in Lynskey's case this was her very first part. Winslet had at least had some smaller TV-roles, but this launched her and only three years later she'd taking part in Sense and Sensibility, Jude and even in Hamlet as Ophelia, but most of all in the female lead of mid-90's blockbuster box office breaking romantic hit movie Titanic. In three small years she did four movies, starting with this one, and suddenly everone knew who Kate Winslet was. No-one can ever take that from the casting people of this movie.