Heavenly Creatures

In the crisp, mid‑century streets of Christchurch, New Zealand, the world feels simultaneously ordinary and poised on the edge of something larger. The town’s quiet suburbs and the looming presence of post‑war change create a backdrop where routine and yearning coexist, a place where the soft rustle of a newspaper can be heard over the distant echo of a Hollywood soundtrack. This delicate balance of the everyday and the imagined sets a tone that is both intimate and unsettling, inviting the viewer to wonder what lies just beneath the surface of daily life.

​Juliet is a poised, well‑to‑do thirteen‑year‑old whose family’s calm intellectual atmosphere masks a more restless inner world. Across the class divide, ​Pauline arrives as a fourteen‑year‑old from a working‑class household, carrying the weight of familial friction and a yearning for belonging. Their initial connection springs from shared experiences of illness and hospital stays, and quickly becomes a refuge where each finds something the other lacks: Juliet’s daring confidence and Pauline’s fierce imagination. Their friendship blossoms through quiet conversations, sketchbooks, and a mutual love of the glamour of old‑Hollywood singers, forging a bond that feels both tender and electric.

Together they construct an elaborate inner kingdom—Borovnia—an elaborate fantasy realm where they rewrite their roles as royalty and dream of turning their stories into films. Within this enclave they also explore the notion of a “Fourth World,” a place imagined without religious constraints, where art and music reign supreme. These invented spaces become the lenses through which they interpret their realities, allowing them to transcend the limits imposed by their families and society. The cinema‑inspired aspirations and the allure of far‑off places like Hollywood infuse their days with a sense of possibility that feels both intoxicating and fragile.

Yet the longing to escape the confines of their small town grows stronger, as does the intensity of their connection. The girls’ shared fantasies begin to hint at a future where they might break away from the expectations that bind them, perhaps even far from Christchurch itself. Their world is thus poised on the brink of transformation—a delicate dance between youthful hope and the darker undertones of obsession—that leaves the audience questioning just how far imagination can carry two souls desperate to be together.

Last Updated: August 10, 2025 at 13:32