Heathers

Wednesday 10 July at 7.30pm

Michael Lehmann | USA | 1988 | 103 mins | M violence & offensive language

An acerbic satire of the sugar-coated high school movies of the 80s, Michael Lehmann’s cult classic twists the teen comedy into dark and nightmarish territory.

“A wicked black comedy about teenage suicide and pernicious peer-group pressure, this refreshing parody of high-school movies is venomously penned by Daniel Waters and sharply directed by Lehmann. The Heathers are three vacuous Westerburg High school beauties who specialise in ‘being popular’ and making life hell for socially inadequate dweebettes and pillowcases. Having sold out her former friends in these categories, Veronica (Ryder) becomes an honorary member of the select clique – but turns monocled mutineer. Aided by handsome rebellious newcomer JD (Slater), she devises a drastic plan to undermine the teen-queen tyranny, but underestimates JD’s ruthlessness: the scheme backfires dangerously… The film uses an intimate knowledge of teen-movie clichés to subvert their debased values from the inside.”– Nigel Floyd, Time Out.
“Still shocking after 30 years, even in a world of 13 Reasons Why and regular real-life high school massacres, this definitive blast of teenage nihilism is strong medicine indeed.”– Kevin Maher, The Times