Best friends, social trends and occasional murder.
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
- Harm to children
- Suicide or self-harm
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Character
Comic, spare and meticulous.
- gravecomic
- sparerichly built
- rawmeticulous
- intimateepic
- classical in formformally daring
Who loves it, who doesn't
41 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Sinceres.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Does it glamorize what it means to condemn?”
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“Is Winona Ryder the best thing in Heathers?”
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“Is it funnier than it is smart?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- kevin2019on TMDB · Jan 202510/10
"Heathers" is almost like a jet black version of "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955) or some such as it steadfastly plumbs the complicated labyrinthine depths of teenage angst and comes up with a radical and downright homicidal anti-social solution. It is overflowing with the largely inconsequential concerns of the hierarchy which exists in all schools to a greater or lesser degree and it provides some harsh examples of this at its most cruel and unforgiving. Who would want to be a teenager again? Anyway, no matter how dark this film becomes and no matter how close Veronica is to ridding her life of the Heathers of the title, she still demurs at the last moment and stops short (she even prevents the eager J.D. from blowing the school up with explosives). The message here is a simple one: The wholesale destruction of the school and all it represents to disenfranchised teenagers everywhere is not the answer to life's innumerable problems.
Read the whole review on TMDB - Wuchakon TMDB · Feb 20186/10
RELEASED IN 1989 and directed by Michael Lehmann, “Heathers” stars Winona Ryder as Veronica, a high school student in Ohio who has sold herself out to join the popular clique of three girls, all coincidently named Heather (Kim Walker, Lisanne Falk & Shannen Doherty). The more she spends time with them, however, the more she discovers she can’t stand them. Enter mysterious new kid, JD (Christian Slater), who has a macabre solution to Veronica’s conundrum. This is an oddball teen movie that tries to be edgy and amusing with its black humor and overt cussing. Future movies were influenced by it, like “Jawbreaker” (1999) and maybe even “Mean Girls” (2004). The commentary on peer pressure, teen suicide and the maiming destructiveness of cliques is potent. Teens can be misled by the “popular” students, yes, but they can also be misled by the outcasts. Slater stands out as a sorta dark Fonz of the late 80s, easily one of his best roles ever. Ryder is surprisingly good as the protagonist. I say “surprisingly” because I was never big on her (although I didn’t dislike her either). The first act is quite good, but the story gets humdrum in the middle; thankfully, the last 20 minutes perk up.
Read the whole review on TMDB - mkerstenon TMDB · Aug 2021
This movie is a high school satire done absolutely amazingly. It's everything current high school dramas wish they were. It's dark, funny, but does not lose any of its meaning to stupid jokes. It perfectly shows the hell that is high school (and society as a whole). Just like in high school, there are Marthas and Heathers everywhere in life. J.D. is a great villain, because even though from his very introduction, we know he's a messed up person who does bad things, yet you start to empathize with him just like Veronica. It shows that, as a society, we go to great lengths to defend white men and their actions. Heathers is furthermore also obviously a critique on the social hierarchies that exist in the world. It shows this on a smaller scale, high school. As J.D. nicely sums up towards the end of the movie: ".. because high school IS society". The Heathers rule the school and this movie really shows as to why that is. It's a system, that puts certain people at the top, like Heathers, and other _Martha's_ at the bottom. Murdering Heather Chandler might seem like a way to disrupt this hierarchy, and restore society to a pure form, but that is not the case. Heather Chandler does not eq
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Winona RyderVeronica Sawyer
- Christian SlaterJason 'J.D.' Dean
- Shannen DohertyHeather Duke
- Lisanne FalkHeather McNamara
- Kim WalkerHeather Chandler
- Penelope MilfordPauline Fleming
- Glenn ShadixFather Ripper
- Lance FentonKurt Kelly
- Jennifer RhodesVeronica's Mom
- Jeremy ApplegatePeter Dawson
Crew
- Michael LehmannDirector
- Daniel WatersWriter
- Francis KennyDirector of Photography
- David NewmanOriginal Music Composer
- Norman HollynEditor
- Denise Di NoviProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
M*A*S*H 197076% alikeBoth comic.
Modern Times 193676% alikeBoth comic.
Man on the Moon 199974% alikeClose across the board.
Bernie 201273% alikeClose across the board.
Wild Horse Nine 202672% alikeClose across the board.
Shaun of the Dead 200472% alikeBoth comic.
Jojo Rabbit 201971% alikeClose across the board.
A King in New York 195771% alikeClose across the board.
Samurai Champloo 200468% alikeTelevision · Close across the board.
Bored to Death 200967% alikeTelevision · Both comic.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
