As Eighties Hollywood patronized the young adult audience, one independent movie, caustically scripted by Daniel Waters, audaciously lobbed a black-comedy satire at its audience, sending teen characters over the edge. Ryder was an Independent Spirit Award nominee for her whip-smart portrayal of Veronica, at wit’s end over her school’s unstoppable trio of mean queen bees—all named Heather—and becoming complicit with the increasingly violent machinations of rebel Christian Slater.

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