Actress Kate Winslet, best known for the blockbuster “Titanic,” made her film debut in “Heavenly Creatures.”

The 1994 film is strange, twisted and, disturbingly, based on a true story.

“Heavenly Creatures” is set in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

It follows the friendship of two adolescent girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, played by Melanie Lynskey and Winslet.

The girls initially meet in school, but their innocent friendship eventually becomes obsessive. They spend all their time together, creating stories about a fictional land called “Borovia.” 

The girls spend so much time in “Borovia” that they start to believe it is real.

Their delusions intensify  over time. Hulme introduces Parker to a non-religious heaven called the “Fourth World,” and the girls begin spending their time there. 

They actually believe the Fourth World and Borovia are real places.

Both Parker and Hulme have strained relationships with their parents. Additionally, both girls’ parents begin to suspect their friendship is not healthy. 

Parker’s parents have her psychoanalyzed, and based on Parker’s obsession with Hulme, the doctor concludes she might be a lesbian. 

Since the film is set in the 1950s, this is not a welcomed diagnosis.

While Parker is busy being diagnosed with lesbianism, Hulme comes down with Tuberculosis. Her parents decide to send her away to live with relatives. The girls become hysterical at the suggestion.

The film, directed by Peter Jackson, is structured circularly. The opening shot shows Hulme and Parker running, distressed and bloody. Thus, the viewer immediately knows this cannot end well. 

Indeed it does not. Parker and Hulme’s delusions and obsessions eventually culminate in disturbing violence.

Although it is beautifully shot, “Heavenly Creatures” is an unpleasant film to watch, a fact that is exacerbated when the viewer realizes all of this delusion and violence actually happened. 

Winslet and Lynskey’s performances are strong, especially for debut performances, and the film is well-made, but it leaves the viewer uncomfortable and disturbed.