Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Shannen Doherty, and Christian Slater. It is widely viewed as a classic teenage comedy of the 1980s, considered revolutionary at the time because of its high levels of violence, cruelty, black humor and absurdity, especially for a movie set in high school, and is often considered one of the finest black comedies ever made. It was written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann. On its release, the film was seen as a stiff response to the gentler and more romanticized view of high school and teenage culture put forth in the movies of John Hughes.

In the film, three out of the four girls in a trend-setting clique at Westerberg High are called Heather. They play croquet with each other and rule the school through intimidation, contempt and sex appeal. One of the central themes of the movie is that people who want their high schools to be kinder places are deluded—high school is not a safe haven from the world, it is the world in microcosm; and "when children complain that they want to be treated like human beings, it's usually because they ARE being treated like human beings." The film was a failure at the box office in the US, and has since become a strong cult film, and is considerd to be one of the finest teen comedies ever made.

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