“Heathers” is a dark, cynical, cult classic movie released in 1989. The film was directed by Michael Lehmann, and starred Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer and Christian Slater as Jason Dean (J.D.) The movie has high reviews, a musical spin-off, and a dedicated fanbase. Despite this, the release of “Heathers” sparked controversy with the sensitive topics mentioned such as homosexuality, and teenage suicide. (Warning: spoilers ahead!)
When the movie opens, we see a predetermined dynamic of Westerburg High School asserts Heather Chandler as the crown jewel of her class body. The other girls—Veronica Sawyer, Heather Duke, & Heather McNamara—are her lackeys, but Veronica is the outlier. She was considered an outcast before Chandler took her under her wing. Since then, she’s forged letters for Heather Chandler’s benefit and sabotaged people she previously considered her friends. The other main character, Jason Dean, is initially introduced as the new kid at Westerburg, who was expelled on the first day. The two senior star football players, Kurt and Ram, were jealous of the (very minor) attention J.D received from Veronica. They went over to scare him, but failed when he pulled a weapon from his trench coat, shooting two blanks at the pair. This for some reason earns Veronica’s admiration, who now is worried about the boy and intrigued by his persona.
The film follows a string of murders by J.D and Veronica, all masked as suicides. The victims (chronologically) are Heather Chandler, Kurt, and Ram. J.D commits these murders because all of these people had hurt Veronica, and because he claims the people they killed provide nothing to society (i.e. Westerburg Highschool). When she decides she wants no part in the murders moving forward, J.D loses it, having Heather Duke get all students to sign a ‘petition’ which J.D uses to forge a mass suicide note, and plants bombs in the boiler room and thermals underneath the bleachers. Veronica quickly interrupts, and stops him. Jason, as a last resort, reveals he has a bomb strapped to his chest, which goes off in front of the school, killing him and ending the streak of murders.
The energy of this film is very mysterious and dark, and the cinematography is excellent. The cinematographer, Francis Kenny, uses mood lighting consistently throughout the movie to convey the different emotions of the characters, which works excellently to build the mood. As the plot thickens, we see Veronica’s diary also get darker, and with different styles of shots, we see how her life starts to shamble, especially at the end of the movie after J.D blows himself up. Even with the dark contents, I think this movie handles them pretty well and shows how it can affect everyone (even with the times they make light of it.) I also enjoy how we see the other Heathers change after Chandler’s death. The movie also has some really interesting parallels with Veronica’s monologues before and after meeting J.D, which you can see if you watch the full movie.
Overall, this movie is absolutely amazing. If you like “Mean Girls,” you’d definitely appreciate “Heathers.” I had tears in my eyes as I finished the movie, and this is definitely one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The plot is absolutely amazing, and I love how we see the progression of Veronica and her view of the suicides. My favorite quote of the entire movie is: “Suicide gave Heather depth, Kurt a soul, and Ram a brain. I don’t know what it’s given me, but I have no control over myself with J.D. Are we going to prom or hell?” This quote really wraps up the entire movie, and shows J.D’s perspective on things. This movie is without a doubt a 10/10 film, and I recommend everyone to watch it.
