Synopsis

In 1950s Christchurch, imaginative teenagers Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme form an intense friendship fueled by fantasy, literature, and shared emotional isolation. As their private imaginary world grows more elaborate, tensions with family and the prospect of separation push the girls toward a devastating decision. The film is based on the real Parker-Hulme murder case.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is based on the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case, one of New Zealand's most notorious criminal cases.

• The screenplay was developed from Fran Walsh's longstanding interest in the case and was co-written by Walsh and Peter Jackson.

• Heavenly Creatures marked the feature-film debuts of Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet. Lynskey was cast only two weeks before filming began after Walsh searched local high schools for a suitable performer.

• The journal voice-overs were taken directly from Pauline Parker's real diaries. The girls' invented characters and fantasy world were also grounded in material from those diaries.

• The elaborate fantasy sequences required fourteen visual-effects shots. Weta FX was established for the production, and the company leased its first computer to create the effects.

• The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 1994 and received the Silver Lion.

• Heavenly Creatures earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and helped bring international attention to both its young performers and New Zealand filmmaking.