How many times have you seen a movie ad where
they quote: "Riveting", "Spellbinding", "On
the edge of my seat from start to finish" and other sensational
stuff like that, and so you go see the movie... and it sucks...
and you're left thinking, who the hell came up with all those
great raves for this piece of crap (and much did they pay him
to like it)?
Well, "Heavenly Creatures" is one of those movies that REALLY IS riveting and spellbinding and will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. It's the true story of a couple of teenage girls growing up in the placid suburbs of New Zealand in 1952. Their friendship turns into a love affair, and they share a fantasy world that becomes all-consuming. When forces in the real world (i.e. the girls' parents) threaten to tear them apart, they devise a defense plan and lash out, with consequences that are truly horrific.
While at times wild and lavish (they make liberal use of special effects to sweep the viewer into the fantasy world), the screenplay was based on the actual diary of one of the girls, and the film is ultimately as real and stern as a movie could possibly be.
At the very beginning, they show you part of the aftermath, then they rewind by a year or so and play out the events leading up. The result feels something like being in a car headed for a brick wall. You know what's coming, and as you get closer and closer, the intensity of anticipation gets more and more severe... and then there's impact, and everything you ever knew gets blown into a million pieces.
As a thriller, the movie has all the impact of an atom bomb, but it's all the more provocative because it isn't fiction. It's a factual illustration of how an anomaly can wreak havoc in an overly complacent environment.
"Heavenly Creatures" is a perfect movie. The writers, the producers and the cast (including Kate Winslet from "Titanic") all combine their virtuosity to bring you the ultimate movie head rush. I can't endorse this picture highly enough.