Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

95% Tomatometer 58 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings

Veronica (Winona Ryder) is part of the most popular clique at her high school, but she disapproves of the other girls' cruel behavior. When Veronica and her new boyfriend, J.D. (Christian Slater), confront clique leader Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) and accidentally poison her, they make it appear a suicide. Soon Veronica realizes that J.D. is intentionally killing students he does not like. She races to stop J.D. while also clashing with the clique's new leader, Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty).

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Critics Consensus

Dark, cynical, and subversive, Heathers gently applies a chainsaw to the conventions of the high school movie -- changing the game for teen comedies to follow.

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Critics Reviews

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Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Kevin Maher Times (UK) Still shocking after 30 years... this definitive blast of teenage nihilism is strong medicine indeed. Rated: 4/5 Aug 10, 2018 Full Review Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Richard Combs Sight & Sound If there's a weakness of motivation in Heathers, it may be because the whole film is rather dream-like, a product of Veronica's fevered writing and imaginings, with a consequent chaos and interchangeability of roles. Aug 10, 2018 Full Review Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Peter Bradshaw Guardian Heathers really is odd, like a mix of something by Stephen King and Bret Easton Ellis... Rated: 4/5 Aug 9, 2018 Full Review Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Alan Jones Radio Times Beneath the hip, lip-glossed surface of this devastatingly witty black comedy lurks a serious satire on peer-group pretensions and other teen movies. Rated: 5/5 Jul 31, 2024 Full Review Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) Roughly the first two-thirds of Heathers is sharp and illustrative. Finally, though, it lapses into teaching the audience a moral, that good ultimately triumphs over evil. May 9, 2023 Full Review Heathers | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Matt Brunson Film Frenzy With so many classic quips, is it any wonder Heathers has long been regarded as one of the best high school movies ever made? Rated: 3.5/4 Oct 18, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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David D Such a great movie. From an era where story and characters drove viewing experiences.Loved every moment of this up to an including the Blakes 7esque ending.Magnificent. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/11/24 Full Review Wayne K If The Breakfast Club was the upbeat and optimistic looks at high school cliques and their function in a young person’s life, then Heathers is the opposite, much darker side of the coin. The screenwriter himself has stated his intention was to counterpoint the positive representation of American high school life, and the film really goes all in on the dark and disturbing satire. Violent and disturbing events are presented with a bizarre flippancy that belies how shocking they would be in real life, but nothing feels too far out of the realm of reality to truly strain believability. Clique infighting, death threats, horrible bullying, jealousy, spite and the never ending quest to achieve popularity, whatever that means or entails, are facts of life for a majority of high school students. If nothing else, it demonstrates how meaningless it is to be popular in high school, since no one can possibly be liked by everyone, and we see how even those who are hailed as the most beloved are actually the most heated. I feel like the film wasn’t really sure how to end, and starts to sputter when the finale is meant to be wrapping up. Also, it’s the kind of story which will resonate much more strongly in American than anywhere else, where the kind of tropes being parodied are most notable. It might come across as forced or artificial to some, but I enjoyed it for its dark comedy, its interesting characters and its unashamed criticism of the high school system. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/09/24 Full Review Aydan A do people just like this movie because it's from the 80's? literally WHAT did this movie do to earn it's place among other cult classics that were actually done well???i thought the acting was incredibly average... the characters had such out of place reactions to things and the whole movie felt like a fever dream in a bad way. it was so dull. i would go see the musical version of this but would never willingly watch the movie again. (sorry heathers fanatics, i get it but i don't!!!) Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Jay H I was 16 when this was released. Everybody in the school watched it at one point or another; most of us loved it, but there were a few who didn't. Those people were exactly like the popular kids in the movie; I guess they weren't fond of how they were portrayed. The truth hurts. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/03/24 Full Review Margaret C I don't patronize bunny rabbits Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/04/24 Full Review Julian S Waters’ script is a remarkable work of art—exceptionally quotable, darkly humorous, and perpetually resonant. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/17/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Michael Lehmann Director Winona Ryder Veronica Sawyer Christian Slater Jason 'J.D.' Dean Shannen Doherty Heather Duke Lisanne Falk Heather McNamara Kim Walker Heather Chandler
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Synopsis Veronica (Winona Ryder) is part of the most popular clique at her high school, but she disapproves of the other girls' cruel behavior. When Veronica and her new boyfriend, J.D. (Christian Slater), confront clique leader Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) and accidentally poison her, they make it appear a suicide. Soon Veronica realizes that J.D. is intentionally killing students he does not like. She races to stop J.D. while also clashing with the clique's new leader, Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty).

Director
Michael Lehmann

Producer
Denise Di Novi

Screenwriter
Daniel Waters

Production Co
New World Pictures

Rating
R

Genre
Comedy

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 31, 1989, Original

Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 4, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.1M

Runtime
1h 42m

Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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