Heavenly Creatures

REVIEW

The provocative, imaginative true-life story of how the intense and passionate relationship of 1950s teenagers Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme led to the grisly murder of Pauline's mother. The film realistically and fantastically portrays the friendship of the teens with Lynskey and Winslet giving outstanding and believable performances as Pauline and Juliet, respectively. The parents of both teens worry about their daughters' "unnatural" relationship and things go terribly wrong when they are eventually separated. Only one solution remains for the two friends.

Director Jackson endows the film with such vision and substance (in addition to some amazing special effects) that the viewer is easily and quickly drawn into the lives of the lead characters. It's the most thrilling story of matricide since Psycho. Of interest: After serving time, Juliet became a best-selling murder mystery author using the name Anne Perry.