Take one look at Heavenly Creatures and it’s apparent that Peter Jackson was the right man to translate the epic proportions of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to the big screen. While this 1994 film tells a smaller story, it’s stunningly filtered through Jackson’s impressive visual panache. This is especially evident in the sort of sweeping camerawork and richly imagined fantasy sequences he would later apply on a larger scale to Rings. A true tale of two schoolgirls whose passionate bond eventually lead them to commit murder, Heavenly Creatures is a ravishingly photographed, brilliantly conceived crime drama-cum-character study that arguably marks Jackson’s most mature and best work to date. Not simply a technical whiz, Jackson is also particularly adept at ratcheting up intensity of their friendship, and conveying their headlong hedonism, unbridled angst, and ultimately, desire to escape their dysfunctional families and the strict social mores of the ‘50s. In their debuts, Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey deliver beautifully persuasive performances as Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker respectively. A true Kiwi classic.