Nice effects though.

Beautiful, moving film.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

In 50's New Zealand, Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) had a rare bone disease as a child, with leg scars. She has no friends at an exclusive girls' school, which her struggling parents can barely afford. They take in boarders, for Pauline is bright. One momentous day, Paul's class gets a new student, imaginative Juliet (Kate Winslet), who is wealthy, intelligent, creative and outspoken. Because Juliet, too, has weak lungs and spent 5 years separated from her family in a warmer climate, the girls have a bond that begins a close friendship. Both girls love Mario Lanza and play-acting. In fact, they envision their own special heaven called The Fourth World, which has knights, princesses, and an elaborate landscape. Both the well-to-do family of Juliet and the poor one of Pauline are extremely concerned about the closer-than-close ties between the two girls. There are other family secrets afoot, too, which eventually result in Juliet's family planning to move away and in Pauline's mother taking steps to separate the girls. But, this results in a tragedy beyond comprehension for two young ladies driven into madness by their own imaginations and strong wills. This amazing film is one for the ages. Not only are the two young performers, Winslet and Lynskey, touching and horrifying beyond their years. but the creative landscapes, real and imagined, are superlative. Also fine are the supporting cast, the tantalizing script (based on true events), and the superb direction by Jackson. Don't miss this heavenly and hellish journey into New Zealand's most notorious crime of the twentieth century.

I actually new the story going into this movie as I had caught an episode of Women That Kill (I think that was the show anyway) that my wife was watching that had this case as one of its featured murders that day. This movie showcased what would come in the future for the stars and director of this film. Winslet put on a great performance, the most believable part of the whole movie, not taking much away from her counterpart who did a good job in her own right. It was Jackson however that showed what was to come in his Lord of the Ring series when he was let loose with the fantasy world sequence. While it was all wonderfully done however it was these sequences that took me out of really thoroughly enjoying the film, not just an all round like of it. It just seemed to much and didn't need to be so overboard to have the same impact.

This film is about real-life teenage friends Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme in New Zealand in the 1950s.Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey are excellent as the friends who are suspected by their parents of being a lesbian couple and who react very badly to being separated. This is Winslet's best performance.

I gave this film a 7 because it portrays the relationship the girls had very well. The fantasy world was very nicely combined with reality and all that happened is very accurate. The acting was good and the writing was too. The problem with this film is that it is a little too disturbing. I do not know how Jackson wanted us to feel but I was not happy for the two main girls and did not actually like them very much. I was kind of on the family's side rather than the teenagers' side. Also, there seemed to be an unrealistic age gap between the two girls with Pauline looking about 15 and Winslet looking about 22. They should have also shown more of the school life; how they were seen by their peers and teachers. On the whole a 'wow' kind of film, worth a watch.