‘Jawbreaker’ Was the Millennial ‘Heathers’—But How Does It Hold Up?
It’s been 25 years since Jawbreaker—the millennial Heathers starring Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, and Julie Benz—hit theaters and became an instant cult classic.
The movie starts with popular girls Courtney (McGowan), Marcie (Benz), and Julie (Gayheart) playing a birthday prank on their friend Liz Purr (Charlotte Ayanna) that ends in tragedy. The trio kidnap Liz from her bed and Courtney gags her with a jawbreaker so she can’t scream—which, combined with the duct tape put over Liz’s face, leads her to suffocate in the trunk of Courtney’s car.
Rather than owning up to accidentally killing their friend, Courtney convinces Marcie and Julie to cover up Liz’s death. Courtney crafts a gruesome story about sexual assault and then the three girls return Liz to her bed to be “found,” but token weird girl (and queer-coded) Fern Mayo (Judy Greer) overhears them talking about what they’d done when she brings the day’s assignments over for “sick” Liz.
To keep her quiet, Courtney and Marcie give Fern a popular girl makeover and a new name, Vylette, and make her part of their clique. Julie, too disturbed by everything, breaks up with her friends, who immediately alter their story and threaten to say they all saw Julie kill Liz. It’s a lot of blackmail for a movie with an hour and 25-minute runtime, but the pacing is solid and the campiness makes it work, especially once the investigation into Liz’s death begins.
Overall, Jawbreaker has aged well since its debut at Sundance in 1999. However, some parts are definitely worth leaving in the last century, especially given how much has changed in Hollywood since the Me Too movement started by Tarana Burke went viral in 2017 when McGowan and a slew of other actresses accused former mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
How Jawbreaker still holds up today
Jawbreaker leans into its era, which helps it succeed. It’s a social commentary on how teenage girls are expected to behave and it explores how obsessing over skin-deep beauty ultimately destroys people from the inside out. It also explores connections, friendship, and identity, all of which are clearly still relevant today. The movie utilizes a candy-colored palette for both costumes and sets, enhancing the idea that what’s rotten often hides underneath what’s pretty or sweet.
In addition to the fashion and sets, the Jawbreaker soundtrack is still iconic. Veruca Salt’s “Volcano Girls” plays over the opening credits, which alternate between dozens of jawbreakers being poured into a quarter machine and a slideshow of character photos. Giant jawbreakers were particularly popular at the time, featured not just in this movie but also in a 2002 episode of Ed, Edd, and Eddie and sold everywhere—even planetarium gift shops, which is where I bought one as a 10-year-old.
Jawbreaker functions well as a snapshot of late ’90s teendom. Courtney is positioned as the villain from the jump and she gets increasingly unhinged as the movie goes on, which reflects onto Fern/Vylette, who everyone believes to be a new transfer after her makeover. As Vylette’s power grows, Courtney’s decreases. This monster of her own making upends everything, especially after Courtney and Marcie reveal that Vylette isn’t the hot new transfer everyone thinks she is, but the same old Fern who everybody ignored for years. When karma finally catches up with Courtney (in a clear Carrie reference, minus the pig’s blood), it’s very satisfying.
Meanwhile, the B plot romance between Julie and drama kid Zack (Chad Christ) grounds the entire story, allowing Julie the space to talk about what really happened to Liz. Zack believes her and helps her get justice for her dead friend, and they give Fern a chance to reclaim her autonomy and identity.
How Jawbreaker doesn’t hold up today
First of all, simply watching any Rose McGowan vehicle is likely to stir up conflicting feelings in some viewers. McGowan received an outpouring of support following her accusations against Weinstein in 2017, which made her even more of a public figure than before. However, she was called out for making transphobic comments about Caitlin Jenner in 2015, then again for making transphobic comments on a 2017 episode of RuPaul’s podcast, “What’s the Tee?” Trans critic and activist Andi Dier brought up those comments at a book reading in 2018, which led to McGowan shouting at her. In 2019, McGowan issued an apology to the trans community via PinkNews and discussed her own queerness, though for the last few years, she’s been in and out of the news for making harmful comments about other communities.
The movie also features an incredibly uncomfortable cameo by shock-rock singer Marilyn Manson, who was accused of sexual misconduct and abuse by four women including Evan Rachel Wood in 2020. Manson also had a relationship with McGowan between 1997 and 2001, including a two-year engagement, which is likely why he appears in Jawbreaker. Worse yet, he plays one of the “strange men” Courtney claims Liz sought for sex. She tells the detective in charge of the investigation this fabricated story in hopes of burying any potential ties back to her. The scene was gross in 1999, and it’s even harder to stomach now.
Much like other late ’90s teen flicks, Jawbreaker suffers from poor queer coding with Fern/Vylette and there are several homophobic comments throughout. Courtney calls Zack gay more than once and in a cringeworthy sex scene between Courtney and popular jock Dane (Ethan Erickson), she asks him to perform fellatio on a popsicle before she goes down on him and claims it’s a kink. She makes a homophobic remark about how he must know things about gay sex since he’s on the wrestling team, which he balks at. It’s the closest either character gets to talking about queerness or gender despite the dynamics at play in the scene. During the prom scene at the end of the movie, Julie and Fern are called “carpet munchers” by an unnamed secondary character.
Is Jawbreaker worth watching for its 25th anniversary?
Jawbreaker is a weird, horrifying, campy romp that’s still worth watching, especially within the context of movies like Heathers and even Mean Girls. It has its flaws and parts of it have aged especially poorly, but overall, Jawbreaker still makes my list of well-remembered movies from the ’90s.
(featured image: Sony Pictures)
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