Heavenly Creatures

How this film uses it

The film shows you the aftermath before it shows you the friendship. That means every sweet scene afterward carries dread. You watch the girls play, knowing where it leads.

Where to see it

Opening montage: A cheerful travelogue-style look at Christchurch is cut short by the two girls running through a park, screaming and covered in blood.

How this film uses it

Pauline is a working-class girl and Juliet comes from a wealthy English family. Together they start to act like one person, finishing each other's thoughts and sharing the same visions. One reading is that each girl becomes what the other lacks.

Where to see it

Port Levy trip: Faced with being left alone, Juliet shares a vision of the Fourth World, a paradise the girls come to believe in together.

How this film uses it

Borovnia, the kingdom the girls invent, is built with plasticine figures, more than 70 latex costumes for its crowds and digital effects such as a morphing garden. It looks as solid as Christchurch, so you understand why the girls prefer it. That makes it harder to see where the fantasy ends.

Where to see it

Borovnia: The girls step into their invented kingdom, where clay-like figures crowd the screen and the world bends to their stories.

How this film uses it

The girls' fixation on each other drives every turn of the plot. When their parents try to separate them, the story speeds toward violence. The film lets you feel how a bond can feed itself until it destroys them.

Where to see it

Victoria Park: The girls drop a pink charm on a steep path. When Pauline's mother, Honora, bends to pick it up, they hit her with a brick hidden in a stocking.