Today, the name of the New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson isknown throughout the world. His films The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbitreceived many awards, were a major commercial success and conquered millionsof viewers' hearts, including the admirers of J. R. R. Tolkien, who followedthe screen adventures of their favorite literary characters with bated breath.However, connoisseurs of cinema had closely followed the work of Jackson formany years before the films' release, for his early films — above all, HeavenlyCreatures, based on a monstrous real crime — impressed by the complexity ofchosen topics and the outstanding directorial skills.This essay analyzes Heavenly Creatures, exploring the reality of a terriblemurder in a sleepy, little New Zealand town — the murder which was largelydisclosed through explicit entries in the diary of one of the criminals; and whichbecame the basis for the film's plot. In no way justifying the criminals, Jackson,however, makes it clear that the incident was also the fault of the adults whodid not see and did not want to see the difficult situation of their daughters.To ban, to punish — such “educational” measures largely anticipated the tragicending: harmless fantasies turned into a tragedy. The action of the film couldtake place in any town, and not only in New Zealand. The film's warning - don'tbe indifferent to your children — was understood by all viewers, regardless oftheir country.The essay looks at how the film was made by an artist who knew how tocombine — and make this combination credible — art house and commercialcinema, surrealism (and other aesthetics of shock) and hard realism.