About the film
- Directed by
- Peter Jackson
- Released
- September 12, 1994
- US theatrical
- October 15, 1994
- Certification
- R
- Country
- New Zealand, United States of America, Germany
- Starring
- Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison
More credits
- Language
- English
- Origin
- NZ, US
- Studios
- WingNut Films, New Zealand Film Commission, Fontana Film Production
- Written by
- Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
- Produced by
- Jim Booth, Hanno Huth
- Cinematography
- Alun Bollinger
- Music
- Peter Dasent
- Also starring
- Simon O'Connor, Jed Brophy, Peter Elliott, Gilbert Goldie, Geoffrey Heath
- Budget
- $5,000,000
- Box office
- $3,049,135
Before The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson made a film about two teenage girls and a real murder. One of those girls grew up to become a world-famous crime novelist.
In HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994), Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme develop an obsessive friendship and create an elaborate shared fantasy world. Fearing their parents will separate them, they plot to kill Pauline's mother.
A psychological drama based on the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in New Zealand, the film lures the viewer into a secret world of wonder and heightened emotion. You understand the killing not as evil but as a logical endpoint, the last brick in the wall around a sealed, private kingdom.
Up to this point, Peter Jackson was not known for subtlety. His brand consisted of zombies, puppet sex, and a splatter comedy whose climactic massacre is carried out with a lawnmower. Here, the New Zealand gore merchant revealed a register nobody knew he had.
Its two leads were unknowns. Melanie Lynskey was a New Zealand schoolgirl pulled in from nowhere. The other, cast as Juliet Hulme, was an English teenager named Kate Winslet.
The actual Juliet Hulme served her sentence, then vanished and reinvented herself. The world would later know her as bestselling crime novelist Anne Perry.
How to see Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Streaming
United States
No subscription, rental, or purchase options listed in United States right now.
Available internationally
Free
With Ads
Free
With Ads
Stream
Stream
Source: JustWatch
Physical media
More editions
Movies they don’t want you to see
Related movies only streaming in other territories
Movies we wrote about
3 commentsThe Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)
10 commentsBut I'm a Cheerleader (2000)
1 commentThe City of Lost Children (1995)
26 commentsIn the Soup (1992)
181 commentsUntil the End of the World (1991)
19 commentsRun Lola Run (1998)
Films scored for your taste
We have to talk…
Godzilla Minus Zero (2026)Not quite as good as the first, but the best monster mash Godzilla movie for sure.
Capturing Bigfoot (2026)Honestly one of the best documentaries I've seen. That sounds like hyperbole, but it was a…
Trouble Every Day (2001)TROUBLE EVERY DAY is definitely an outlier in its graphic extremity, but saying Denis was known…
The Social Reckoning (2026)A little preachy and sanctimonious - maybe. But I wonder if that's just the climate we're…
Doppelgänger (1969)One of the best!
Death Race 2000 (1975)Saw this first run at a local drive-in and loved it. Still do. Still love the…
Man Bites Dog (1992)Rented this vhs in college a couple times. Hilarious and a good way to practice your…
Pandora's Box (1929)Great movie! 🌻
The Devil Rides Out (1968)Brilliant movie!!! "The Goat of Mendes! The Devil Himself!"
Three Colors: Red (1994)I can’t believe it came out 32 years ago! The wonderful, talented cinematographer Piotr Sobociński also…
Moontrap (1989)Worth the watch
Velvet Goldmine (1998)Mark Sebastian Jordan Bowie also produced all of Transformer.
Judy 👍❤️
I was obsessed with this movie (and the real crime) there used to be an extensive FAQ on the web about this movie. If you can find it, it’s fascinating.
This movie is absolutely gorgeous. I think it’s his best.
I’m proud to say I knew who Peter Jackson was before “LOTR”, Kate Winslet before “Titanic”, and Melanie Lynskey before “Ever After” because of this film.
It was a very solid movie.
Such a good movie.
Great film
Puppet sex??
Amanda right ?! I need to know more
Love this movie! This was when I was first introduced to Melanie Lynskey. Been following her career ever since. She’s a talented actress. Interesting true crime story too.
Love this movie so much.
Wow thank you for sharing this. I didn’t know.
I remember finding this story about one of my favourite authors. Wild.
Anne Perry’s books, and the characters in them are great. When I found out that she was Hulme it was easy to understand why her “villains” were so well developed.
Watched this as a teen in the 90s, genuinely worried that I’d go crazy and kill my mother. Great movie 😂
Caleb Barrus have you ever seen this
Never heard of it, I’m also not a lord of the rings fan 😬🤷♂️
Sarah Holstrom this was the movie I told you about! My first introduction to Kate Winslet!
This was a strange movie but so good
I love love love this movie. I still have it on VHS! 📼
Psycho v 2.0 🫡🫡
Great flick! Both Lynskey and Winslet were wonderful, but you could really see the star quality in Kate.
Sarah Kate – reminds me of stale Kools & garage floor muscat
I freaking love this movie I didn’t know he did this one too
Both are wonderful actresses. Melanie Lynskey’s role in Ever After has always been one of my favorites.
What about Meet the feebles!!??!!
Natalie Smith remember watching this when you were babysitting Brad & Lew?
I thought it was a great movie
Great movie!!
Anne Perry books are incredible.
Absolutely adore this movie!
Omg I had no idea!! I have a huge collection of Anne Perry books. Excellent books.
Its on YouTube, the actual full movie
It’s a flawed movie, but it was enough to convince people he could do Lord of the Rings.
I love this film!
I cried so much after watching the movie and had to hug my mom.
Juliet Hulme became Anne Perry and lived in the uk, died in 2023 and Pauline lives in Scotland working with horses she is around 87
I watched this as a little girl (probably shouldn’t have) and I wanted to be their friend so bad that I imagined i was, and then they did the murder and I felt like I’d gotten in too deep and felt really anxious for AGES that I was going to prison. Super weird experience 😂
I wonder whatever happened to those two actresses?
Hahahahahh jk
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-mWtpnDi60Q
Fascinating movie
Really cool film!!
My favorite ♡
I love this film!
Amber Shauna was always going to be THAT girl
I was obsessed, I love this movie so much! Foundational to my love of dark romance and black comedy(Heathers is another favorite, quelle surprise)🖤
Such a weird film but I remember it very clearly when I was younger.
My favourite film x
Loved this twist true story
Such a great movie!!
Sick psychopath, murders a mother in the most brutal way allowed to grow up and writing murder novels sick bitch