History Film / HeavenlyCreatures

* HistoricalBeautyUpgrade: Averted, surprisingly. Kate Winslet does in fact bear a striking resemblence to the young Juliet Hulme, while Creator/MelanieLynsky actually scales her attractiveness down to play Pauline.

* HistoricalBeautyUpgrade: Averted, surprisingly. Kate Winslet does in fact bear a striking resemblence to the young Juliet Hulme.

** In RealLife, an attempt to mount an InsanityDefense based on the girls' writing, "Fourth World" religion, and perceived homosexuality was practically laughed out of court.

** The real Dr. Bennett was TheShrink, version 2, right down to testifying at length (somewhat incoherently) on the witness stand that the young women were completely bonkers. It didn't fly, his testimony was ripped to shreds by the prosecution, and Pauline and Juliet were convicted. (He ended up a patient in his own hospital less than a year after the trial.)
** Pauline's classmates point out that the film makes Honorah ''much'' more sympathetic than she really was.

%% * AntiEscapismAesop: An incredibly creepy example.
* BigFancyHouse: Ilam, home of the Hulmes. It's huge, beautifully furnished and elegant.

* KubrickStare: Pauline, ever the gloomy girl, keeps giving people (and the camera) the stink eye.

* AcheyScars: Pauline has a huge one on her leg; Juliet's ''are on her lungs.''

* AntiEscapismAesop: An incredibly creepy example.
* BigFancyHouse: Ilam, home of the Hulmes.
* BloodFromTheMouth: Happens to Juliet.

* ChewingTheScenery: Kate Winslet goes into this area every now and again.

* CureYourGays

* TheDreaded: Creator/OrsonWelles...for some reason.
** Possibly because he had put on numerous NightmareFuel [[Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds radio drama]] and stage plays, including a version of ''Dracula'' with script taken straight from the book, Orson had quite the reputation among young women in this time period. You either thought he was fascinating and sexy, or -- the most hideous man alive.
* EnfantTerrible: Prince Diello.

* FauxDocumentary: The "Visit Christchurch!" film that begins the movie.
* TheFifties: The story takes place in 1952-54.
* {{Gayngst}}: To the utmost extreme.
* HenpeckedHusband: Dr. Hulme.

* KubrickStare: Pauline is very, very good at these.
* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Dark-haired, shorter, curvier, dramatically pale Pauline in contrast to taller, slimmer, sun-kissed blonde Juliet. Justified, as the actresses were chosen in part for their physical resemblance to their real-life counterparts.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy [[LoveMakesYouEvil and Evil]]: Both girls gradually come to embrace the idea that they are "mad" as they become more and more infatuated with each other--and their infatuation eventually drives them to murder.
** The common belief of the time was that homosexuality was a form of mental illness ''and'' a sign of low morals, thus being in love would mean that the girls were literally both "crazy" and "evil." Both sets of parents certainly take this belief to heart, and their interference unwittingly leads to tragedy.
* MadLove: It even has its own banner that explodes in blood!
* MadeOfPlasticine: The Borovnians. ''Literally''.

-->'''Pauline''' (explaining her fictional characters): "Nicolas has got his eye on Gina, an amazingly beautiful gypsy."
-->'''John''' (teasing): "Looks a bit like you, Yvonne."[[note]]Yvonne is Pauline's middle name and family nickname[[/note]]
* MurderIsTheBestSolution:
--> '''Pauline''' (journal entry): ''Anger against Mother boiled up inside me, as it is she who is one of the main obstacles in my path. Suddenly, [[{{Matricide}}a means of ridding myself of this obstacle]] occurred to me.''

* OneSteveLimit: Zigzagged. Both Juliet's little brother and Pauline's suitor are named Jonathan, but Juliet's brother is more often referred to as "Jonty" and Pauline rechristens her lover "Nicholas."
* ParentalHypocrisy: When Mrs. Rieper chews out Pauline about sleeping with John and calls her a "cheap little tart", Pauline angrily retorts that she's no better, as Honorah married Pauline's father when she was only a year older than Pauline herself.
* ParentsAsPeople: Despite being seen as a villain keeping her from Juliet, Pauline's mother really does seem to care about what is best for her daughter, but just doesn't know how to handle her. [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Pauline didn't make it easy for her.]]

* ParentalNeglect: Juliet's parents left her alone in hospital for ''five years'' when she was first sick. Then in the film, when she's diagnosed with tuberculosis on her lungs, her parents simply leave her behind to go on holiday.

** Invoked with both sets of parents, who are so concerned that their daughters might be lesbians that it doesn't occur to them that they might be plotting murder.

* PutOnABus: How Juliet feels when her parents leave her in hospitals for her health while they go on business trips.

* SchoolgirlLesbians: They appear to be this in the movie, but Anne Perry insists it was "only" a really intense two-girl friendship. (Pauline doesn't talk to the press.) The actresses were instructed to play the girls as "devoted friends" who were just role-playing love scenes between their favorite characters.

* ShutUpHannibal: Pauline does a great one to her mother:

** And Dad was ''still married'' at the time!

* TeensAreMonsters: Pauline and Juliet are fourteen and fifteen at the beginning of the film, sixteen and seventeen by the end.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Pauline is taken to a child psychologist who concludes she's suffering from a mental disorder called "[[ValuesDissonance Homosexuality]]".
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Diello, the young prince of Borovnia, who kills pretty much everyone who isn't his parents.
** Honorah's death. Violent as it is, the film actually ''tones it down.''
* TitleDrop: During Pauline's poem.

* UnfortunateNames: Pauline ''[[TheGrimReaper Rieper]]'' [[spoiler: especially after what she does to her mother]].

** In reality, ''Pauline'' was described as glamorous by classmates: a "proud beauty" "like a gypsy" with "flashing eyes that would just strike you dead." Far from being ostracized or withdrawn, Pauline was a clever, well-liked {{Tomboy}}, while Juliet was considered by her classmates as a [[BritishStuffiness snooty Brit]] with a "perpetual cold" who they believed [[PlayingSick exaggerated her symptoms]] for attention.
*** On the other hand, Juliet's teachers fawned over her and overlooked a great deal of her disrespect and arrogance simply because she was English, wealthy, and the daughter of the college dean, as opposed to the film where teachers frequently call out her rude behavior.

* YourCheatingHeart: Hilda Hulme, a marriage counselor, begins an affair with Walter Perry, one of her clients, and actually ''moves him into their house'', devastating her husband, who's aware of the whole arrangement.
* YuriGenre: One of the more disturbing examples, really.

** Juliet Hulme, AKA Deborah ("Debórah," her role-playing name), Guilletta (Italian for "Juliet" and Pauline's romantic name for Juliet in her diary), and [[spoiler: Anne, as the alias she used after she was released from prison]].

* {{Psycho|Lesbian}} SchoolgirlLesbians: They appear to be this in the movie, but Anne Perry insists it was "only" a really intense two-girl friendship. (Pauline doesn't talk to the press.) The actresses were instructed to play the girls as "devoted friends" who were just role-playing love scenes between their favorite characters.

* ShoutOut: The photo of Orson Welles that floats away on the river is a homage to a scene from ''Film/TheThirdMan''; one of the photos in Pauline's room is the real Juliet Hulme.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' did an episode inspired by this story, with Lisa befriending a young girl named Juliet Hobbes. Together, the two girls invent the fantasy world of Equalia. Unlike Pauline, though, Lisa eventually decides she'd rather live in the real world.
** ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' also did [[RippedFromTheHeadlines an episode inspired by this]]; the two girls are ballerinas and the crazier one even has the PortmanteauCoupleName of Paulette.
** The French film ''Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal'' (''Don't Deliver Us From Evil'') is inspired by the case. Though the setting and details change greatly, it's still about a blonde and a brunette schoolgirl whose romantic relationship and elaborate, insulated fantasy world end in murder.

* ParentalObliviousness: Pauline's father thinks the major concern is that the girls don't spend enough time out of doors in the fresh air--ironic, considering what actually happens when they finally go for a walk in the woods.

** Mrs. Hulme repeatedly insists that "it's all perfectly innocent" when her husband expresses concerns that the girls might be engaging in inappropriate behavior. (Views of lesbians and teen sexuality in the 1950s notwithstanding, a sixteen-year-old girl taking nude photos of herself with the intention of mailing them to Hollywood film producers really ''is'' a matter for parental intervention.)

* ShownTheirWork: The entire film was shot on location in Christchurch, NZ. They even filmed where the actual murder took place. According to [=IMDb=], it became eerily quiet when they started shooting, so they moved up a few paces until things felt comfortable. That's the actual tea shop in the park; when filming was completed, the tea shop was torn down so that it wouldn't become a Graceland.

* LoveMakesYouCrazy [[LoveMakesYouEvil and Evil]]

* ChekhovsGun: The ring with a pink jewel in the middle that first shows up in an ImagineSpot is what the girls use to distract Honora so they can attack her.

* HotGypsyWoman: Gina, a gypsy girl from Borovnia. (In addition, many former schoolmates of the real Pauline described her as "gypsy-like," with black hair and flashing eyes. Small wonder Pauline chose Gina as her [[SelfInserFic alter-ego]].)

* HotGypsyWoman: Gina, a gypsy girl from Borovnia.

* IHaveManyNames: Pauline Rieper, AKA Paul (for short), Charles (role-playing), Gina (preferred name), and Yvonne (middle name/family nickname) [[spoiler: and Pauline Parker, after it's discovered that her parents never married, and Hilary Nathan, after being released from prison]]; Juliet Hulme, AKA Deborah ("Debórah") [[spoiler: as well as the alias she used after she's released from prison]]. Additionally, Pauline renames her lover from boring ol' John to Nicholas.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Pauline thinks that Dr. Hulme is trying to help her and Juliet, when actually he's the one who is most actively working to keep them apart, while Pauline is convinced it's her mother.

* {{Irony}}: The girls concoct the scheme because they are desperate not to be separated--only for them to be arrested immediately, sent to different prisons, and "it was a condition of their release that they never meet again".[[note]]This is a load of bunkum, originally concocted by Juliet / Anne Perry. According to Peter Graham's account of the Parker-Hulme murder, ''So Brilliantly Clever'', "It has often been said, not least by Juliet Hulme herself, that a condition of the girls’ release was that they were to have no further communication. This was not so. The ''Sydney Sun-Herald'' quoted [Secretary for Justice] Barnett as saying, "Miss Hulme’s release is unconditional. . . . Miss Parker’s release is subject to general control as to her residence, employment and the like". Asked if the girls had been given, or been asked to give, an understanding to keep apart or refrain from corresponding, the secretary for justice said they had not been released on such a condition."[[/note]] As far as anyone knows, they haven't.

* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Dark-haired, shorter, curvier Pauline and taller, slimmer blonde Juliet. Justified, as the actresses were chosen in part for their physical resemblance to their real-life counterparts.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Juliet for Paul, at least initially. (At times Juliet seems ''clinically'' manic, gushing effusively about her fantasies, posing dramatically, and possessed of boundless energy.)

* MurderIsTheBestSolution: In Pauline's mind, the only thing standing between her and living with the Hulmes is her mother.

* ParentsAsPeople: Despite being seen as a villain keeping her from Juliet, Pauline's mother really does seem to care about what is best for her but just doesn't know how to handle her. [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Pauline didn't make it easy for her.]]

** In RealLife, the girls' writing and "Fourth World" religion were in their trial as an InsanityDefense that was practically laughed out of court.
** In reality, ''Pauline'' was described as glamorous by classmates; a "proud beauty", "like a gypsy". Juliet was considered a [[BritishStuffiness snooty Brit]] with a "perpetual cold" who (they thought) [[PlayingSick exaggerated her symptoms]] for attention.

Bonding over their childhood ailments, their feelings of superiority and loneliness, and their shared [[WorldBuilding imaginary fantasy kingdom]], Pauline and Juliet quickly become inseparable. Both the fantasies and the friendship sustains the girls during a tumultuous period in which Pauline's already [[ToughLove rocky relationship]] with her mother steadily declines, Juliet's [[IncurableCoughOfDeath health issues]] threaten her life, and [[YourCheatingHeart the Hulmes' marriage teeters on the brink of divorce.]] With their worlds falling apart around them, Pauline and Juliet seem to withdraw not only from their families, but from reality itself: they fall into delusions in which they escape to [[ImagineSpot The Fourth World]], a PersonalizedAfterlife of "music, art, and pure enjoyment" occupied by their hand-selected "saints" and accessible to only a select few [[TitleDrop "heavenly creatures"]]--such as themselves.

Their parents, alarmed by the intensity of the friendship and the changes it has wrought on their daughters, make plans to separate them, with Pauline's mother appearing to be the ringleader in the plot. But on the eve of their separation, [[{{Matricide}} Pauline comes up with the perfect plan to stay together.]]

* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Dark-haired, shorter, curvier Pauline tends and taller, slimmer blonde Juliet. Justified, as the actresses were chosen in part for their physical resemblance to their real-life counterparts.

** In a deleted scene, stoic Dr. Hulme is shown curling up in an armchair and weeping like a child as he hears his wife and her lover laughing together in bed.

''Heavenly Creatures'' is a 1994 film by Creator/PeterJackson, and most notably the first film of Creator/KateWinslet.

The story is {{narrat|or}}ed by [[TeensAreMonsters 14-year old]] Pauline Rieper (Creator/MelanieLynskey) through her RealLife diary entries from the time she meets [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Juliet]] [[IllGirl Hulme]] (Winslet) to when [[WorldBuilding they create]] [[ImagineSpot their own fantasy world]], to when their impending separation causes them to believe MurderIsTheBestSolution to their problems.

BasedOnATrueStory. Weird trivia note: the real Juliet Hulme later achieved international fame as best-selling mystery novelist Anne Perry.

* TheFifties: The story takes place in 1954-55.
* {{Gayngst}}: to the utmost extreme.

* HowWeGotHere: The film opens with a blood-spattered Pauline and Juliet screaming at passerby for help.

* InAWorld: Read straight ''and'' played with in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vUl-1FJ9E the trailer]], narrated by none other than Creator/DonLaFontaine.
* {{Irony}}: The girls concoct the scheme because they are desperate not to be separated. Only for them to be arrested immediately, sent to different prisons, and "it was a condition of their release that they never meet again".[[note]]This is a load of bunkum, originally concocted by Juliet / Anne Perry. According to Peter Graham's account of the Parker-Hulme murder, ''So Brilliantly Clever'', "It has often been said, not least by Juliet Hulme herself, that a condition of the girls’ release was that they were to have no further communication. This was not so. The ''Sydney Sun-Herald'' quoted [Secretary for Justice] Barnett as saying, "Miss Hulme’s release is unconditional. . . . Miss Parker’s release is subject to general control as to her residence, employment and the like". Asked if the girls had been given, or been asked to give, an understanding to keep apart or refrain from corresponding, the secretary for justice said they had not been released on such a condition."[[/note]] As far as anyone knows, they haven't.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Juliet for Paul, at least initially.

* NewYearsResolution
* ParentalHypocrisy: When Mrs. Rieper chews out Paulette about sleeping with John and calls her a "cheap little tart", Paulette angrily retorts that she's no better.

* ParentalObliviousness

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted, Pauline is taken to a child psychologist who concludes she's suffering from a mental disorder called "[[ValuesDissonance Homosexuality]]".

** The real Dr. Bennett was TheShrink, version 2, right down to testifying at length (somewhat incoherently) on the witness stand that the young women were completely bonkers. It didn't fly, his testimony was ripped to shreds by the prosecution, and Pauline and Juliet were convicted.

** The "Letter from Old Stew" scene is more bunkum. Pauline was ''not'' failing English, but doing well in school and didn't want to leave. Honorah pulled her out because she felt the school was causing her to have pretentions/ambitions above her lowly working-class station. The letter, when it came, questioned Honorah's decision, and was signed not just by Miss Stewart but by Hilda Hulme, Juliet's mother, who was on the school board. Had Jackson stuck to the facts here, it would have gone a long way toward establishing Honorah's real character and Pauline's motive. Since he wanted to make Honorah nicer than she really was, the incident was rewritten to portray her as just a concerned mum.

* BigFancyHouse: Ilam, home of the Hulmes.

* AntiEscapismAesop: An incredibly creepy example. The fact that it was BasedOnATrueStory doesn't helps any to reduce that, either.
** In RealLife, their attorneys used the girls' writing and "Fourth World" religion in an insanity defense. It was clear that their fantasy life was ''not'' the rationale behind the murder, and the defense were practically laughed out of court.
* BigFancyHouse: Ilam, home of the Hulmes.

** Pauline's classmates point out that the film makes Honorah ''much'' more sympathetic than she really was.

** In reality, ''Pauline'' was described as glamorous by classmates; a "proud beauty", "like a gypsy". Juliet was considered a [[BritishStuffiness snooty Brit]] with a "perpetual cold" who (they thought) [[PlayingSick exaggerated her symptoms]] for attention.

** The real Dr. Bennett was TheShrink, version 2, right down to testifying at length (somewhat incoherently) on the witness stand that the young women were completely bonkers. It didn't fly, his testimony was ripped to shreds by the prosecution, and Pauline and Juliet were convicted.

* YuriGenre: One of the more disturbing examples, really.

* {{Irony}}: The girls concoct the scheme because they are desperate not to be separated. Only for them to be arrested immediately, sent to different prisons, and "it was a condition of their release that they never meet again".[[note]]According to Peter Graham's account of the Parker-Hulme murder, ''So Brilliantly Clever'', "It has often been said, not least by Juliet Hulme herself, that a condition of the girls’ release was that they were to have no further communication. This was not so. The ''Sydney Sun-Herald'' quoted [Secretary for Justice] Barnett as saying, "Miss Hulme’s release is unconditional. . . . Miss Parker’s release is subject to general control as to her residence, employment and the like". Asked if the girls had been given, or been asked to give, an understanding to keep apart or refrain from corresponding, the secretary for justice said they had not been released on such a condition."[[/note]]
As far as anyone knows, they haven't.

** Possibly because he had put on numerous NightmareFuel [Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds radio drama]] and stage plays, including a version of ''Dracula'' with script taken straight from the book, Orson had quite the reputation among young women in this time period. You either thought he was fascinating and sexy, or -- the most hideous man alive.

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heavenlycreatures_8108.jpg]]

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: A variation, but when Pauline's parents are SlutShaming her for sleeping with Jonathan (when she actually hadn't), she retaliates by sneaking over to his house and making it official, whilst imagining she's actually in Borovnia reuniting with Diello and the rest of the royal family, including Juliet.

** Possibly because he had put on numerous NightmareFuel radio and stage plays, including a version of ''Dracula'' with script taken straight from the book, Orson had quite the reputation among young women in this time period. You either thought he was fascinating and sexy, or -- the most hideous man alive.

* IHaveManyNames: Pauline Rieper, AKA Paul (for short), Charles (role-playing), Gina (preferred name), and Yvonne (middle name/family nickname) [[spoiler: and Pauline Parker, after it's discovered that her parents never married, and Hilary Nathan, after being released from prison]]; Juliet Hulme, AKA Deborah ("Deborrah") [[spoiler: as well as the alias she used after she's released from prison]]. Additionally, Pauline renames her lover from boring ol' John to Nicholas.

* {{Irony}}: The girls concoct the scheme because they are desperate not to be separated. Only for them to be arrested immediately, sent to different prisons, and when they're released, have a condition of that be that they never see or speak to each other again. As far as anyone knows, they haven't.

* TheDreaded: OrsonWelles...for some reason.

The story is {{narrat|or}}ed by [[TeensAreMonsters 14-year old]] Pauline Rieper (Creator/MelanieLynskey) through her RealLife diary entries from the time she meets [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Juliet]] [[IllGirl Hulme]] (Winslet) to when they create [[ImagineSpot their own fantasy world]], to when their impending separation causes them to believe MurderIsTheBestSolution to their problems.

* CommonalityConnection: Juliet and Pauline bond over their shared history of being [[IllGirl Ill Girls.]]
* CompletelyOffTopicReport: The girls are assigned to write an essay on the British Royal Family. Juliet instead writes one on the royal family of Borovnia, the fantasy realm she and Pauline created. Pauline comes to her defense by pointing out the assignment never specified which royals.

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: A variation, but when Pauline's parents are SlutShaming her for sleeping with Jonathan (when she actually hadn't), she retaliates by sneaking over to his house and making it official, whilst imagining she's actually making love to Diello.

* ImagineSpot: The girls imagine very violent things happening to a sanctimonious priest, a smarmy child psychologist, and their parents.

** The real Dr. Bennett was TheShrink, version 2, right down to testifying at length (somewhat incoherently) on the witness stand that the young women were completely bonkers.