On June 22, 1954 in a picturesque park in Christchurch New Zealand, two 14-year-old schoolgirls, Juliet Hulme and Pauline Reiper, took turns with a house brick to bludgeon to death Pauline's mother, Honora. Written and directed by Peter Jackson, with imput from Frances Walsh, Heavenly Creatures strives to put the 40-year-old "crime that shocked a nation" into some sort of contemporary perspective by suggesting that the intense psychological and social forces which shaped the girls' obsessive and intense, fantasy-driven friendship distanced them so effectively from the boundaries of so-called normal behaviour that they considered their brutal act of violence to be not only an extreme act of rebellion but also a perverse confirmation of their mutual bonding. Anyone familiar with newcomer Jackson's aptly titled debut feature Bad Taste or his more recent Braindead will be more than a little surprised by the artistic quantum leap he has taken with this impressive film. And while some of the symbolism might smack more of artifice than art, there is an exhilarating assurance to Jackson's wide-screen compositions and both Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey are excellent as the Mario Lanza aficionados who prove to be anything but heavenly.
