This is a movie set in a world that is for some people the Best Years of Their Lives but for most is an absolute nightmare world. Yes, it’s a high school movie.
Westerburg High School is ruled by a vicious tyranny - the Heathers. Three girls who all happen to be named Heather. And there’s a fourth member of their clique, Veronica (Winona Ryder). The Heathers are the popular girls. They’re rich and they’re beautiful. They get to date the hottest guys and they get to wear expensive clothes but there’s one thing they enjoy even more than shopping - making life miserable for anyone who isn’t popular. They are total bitches.
Except for Veronica. Veronica doesn’t quite fit in. She doesn’t enjoy cruelty (which makes her an object of suspicion to the Heathers). She doesn’t really like the Heathers at all. On the other hand she’s a realist. It’s better to be part of their clique than to be outside it. It’s better to be a winner than a loser. Veronica is however not entirely happy with her situation. Sometimes she wishes Heather 1 (Heather Chandler, the leader of the clique) was dead.
Then Veronica meets J.D. (Christian Slater). He seems like just the sort of guy she’s been looking for - a good-looking sexy rebel who shares her jaundiced view of high school life. He agrees with her that it would be better for everyone if Heather Chandler died. Of course every high school student thinks this way at times about some fellow student they dislike but that doesn’t mean they would actually kill that person. But J.D. is different. He really would kill Heather Chandler. And he does. Or rather, he and Veronica kill her. Veronica thought they were just paying Heather back by playing a mean trick on her (which she thoroughly deserved) but she’s only just starting to figure out that J.D. isn’t just a rebel he’s a psycho.
Murder becomes a habit. There are other students who deserve to die, and they do. Getting away with murder is surprisingly easy. You just make it look like suicide.
This has unexpected results. Suicide becomes fashionable. Even the geeky kids have a go at it. The teen suicide craze at Westerburg High becomes a media event and an opportunity for a hippie-dippie school counsellor to indulge in emotional grandstanding. The movie is of course a satire and this is the point where the satire really hits top gear. Making a wickedly funny satire about teen suicide is a risky undertaking but Heathers carries it off effortlessly. It’s satire that is quite merciless and very very edgy but somehow it still manages to be delightfully funny. It not only hits the target, it hits the right targets. As edgy as it is it’s not exploitative. The fact that there are plenty of people prepared to exploit teen suicide and that it’s sick to do so is the whole point of the movie.
The murder spree by Veronica and J.D has other unexpected results. If you kill one Heather another one just pops up to take her place. J.D. thinks more drastic measures are required but by this time Veronica has decided that things are getting out of hand.
The fact that the movie works so well is partly due to the daring but very witty and intelligent script by Daniel Waters but the performances also have a lot to do with it. Winona Ryder is superb. She, very wisely, doesn’t overplay things. Veronica is in fact a completely normal girl. She’s smart but she’s not a misfit and she never intended to become a serial killer. It just sort of happened. But she remains essentially normal. She’s really a nice girl and very likeable.
J.D. is not normal at all but Christian Slater’s performance is also very controlled. He has to appear to be the kind of guy that a normal girl would fall for. He has to appear to be just dangerous enough to be sexy and we have to believe that even when she realises he’s crazy Veronica is still attracted to him.
Kim Walker is particularly good (and particularly funny) as the vicious Heather Chandler and Shannen Doherty is also excellent as Heather Duke, the successor to Heather Chandler’s crown as leader of the Heathers. You can understand why the three Heathers would tempt any reasonable person to murder - their bitchiness is awe-inspiring.
This was the first attempt at a feature by both writer Waters and director Michael Lehmann and they demonstrate enormous self-assurance in pulling off such a risky movie. The subject matter would render this movie quite impossible to make today. It’s also very politically incorrect.
Heathers is wickedly effective satire and delicious fun. Highly recommended.
Then Veronica meets J.D. (Christian Slater). He seems like just the sort of guy she’s been looking for - a good-looking sexy rebel who shares her jaundiced view of high school life. He agrees with her that it would be better for everyone if Heather Chandler died. Of course every high school student thinks this way at times about some fellow student they dislike but that doesn’t mean they would actually kill that person. But J.D. is different. He really would kill Heather Chandler. And he does. Or rather, he and Veronica kill her. Veronica thought they were just paying Heather back by playing a mean trick on her (which she thoroughly deserved) but she’s only just starting to figure out that J.D. isn’t just a rebel he’s a psycho.
Murder becomes a habit. There are other students who deserve to die, and they do. Getting away with murder is surprisingly easy. You just make it look like suicide.
This has unexpected results. Suicide becomes fashionable. Even the geeky kids have a go at it. The teen suicide craze at Westerburg High becomes a media event and an opportunity for a hippie-dippie school counsellor to indulge in emotional grandstanding. The movie is of course a satire and this is the point where the satire really hits top gear. Making a wickedly funny satire about teen suicide is a risky undertaking but Heathers carries it off effortlessly. It’s satire that is quite merciless and very very edgy but somehow it still manages to be delightfully funny. It not only hits the target, it hits the right targets. As edgy as it is it’s not exploitative. The fact that there are plenty of people prepared to exploit teen suicide and that it’s sick to do so is the whole point of the movie.
The murder spree by Veronica and J.D has other unexpected results. If you kill one Heather another one just pops up to take her place. J.D. thinks more drastic measures are required but by this time Veronica has decided that things are getting out of hand.
The fact that the movie works so well is partly due to the daring but very witty and intelligent script by Daniel Waters but the performances also have a lot to do with it. Winona Ryder is superb. She, very wisely, doesn’t overplay things. Veronica is in fact a completely normal girl. She’s smart but she’s not a misfit and she never intended to become a serial killer. It just sort of happened. But she remains essentially normal. She’s really a nice girl and very likeable.
J.D. is not normal at all but Christian Slater’s performance is also very controlled. He has to appear to be the kind of guy that a normal girl would fall for. He has to appear to be just dangerous enough to be sexy and we have to believe that even when she realises he’s crazy Veronica is still attracted to him.
Kim Walker is particularly good (and particularly funny) as the vicious Heather Chandler and Shannen Doherty is also excellent as Heather Duke, the successor to Heather Chandler’s crown as leader of the Heathers. You can understand why the three Heathers would tempt any reasonable person to murder - their bitchiness is awe-inspiring.
This was the first attempt at a feature by both writer Waters and director Michael Lehmann and they demonstrate enormous self-assurance in pulling off such a risky movie. The subject matter would render this movie quite impossible to make today. It’s also very politically incorrect.
Heathers is wickedly effective satire and delicious fun. Highly recommended.
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