Winona Ryder’s Best Movie, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Ranking a certain actor of director’s work by their Rotten Tomatoes scores often throws up some surprises. For instance, Sean Connery’s finest film, according to the site, is “Darby O’Gill and the Little People,” and Hugh Jackman’s actual best performance in 2013’s “Prisoners” is ranked eighth on his Rotten Tomatoes page. Oh, and Tim Burton’s highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t even a movie he directed. In other words, the ubiquitous Tomatometer is not always the most accurate guide, especially when it comes to comparing an individual’s RT scores in a straightforward ranking.

Sometimes, though, taking a look at an actor’s filmography on the review aggregator can highlight some of their lesser known roles — roles which are actually worthy of being at the top of the RT rankings. Take frequent Burton collaborator Winona Ryder, for example, who first worked with the director on 1988’s “Beetlejuice,” in which she played the role of Lydia Deetz. It’s arguably one of her most recognizable roles — at least for the generations who weren’t introduced to Ryder via “Stranger Things” — and helped establish the actor as a goth girl icon early in her career.

But around the same time that “Beetlejuice” debuted, Ryder also starred in another dark comedy that, though not as popular as Burton’s film, similarly established Ryder’s ability to go darker a little too well. It’s this cult classic that’s currently sitting at the top of the actor’s RT rankings.

Winona Ryder will soon return as Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton’s highly-anticipated legacy sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” This time around, Lydia is a mother to Jenna Ortega’s Astrid Deetz, representing a symbolic passing of the torch from one goth icon to another. Which is all well and good, but many are still waiting for a sequel to Ryder’s 1989 film “Heathers.” The movie, directed by Michael Lehmann, debuted at film festivals the year prior, but was released in the U.S. in March of 1989 — the same year Burton would debut the first of his Batman movies. This wasn’t the only connection between the Dark Knight and “Heathers” either, as both this film and 1992’s “Batman Returns” were penned by Daniel Waters.

Before he landed the writing gig on Burton’s Batman sequel, Waters broke into Hollywood with his bleak teen comedy, which saw Ryder play Veronica Sawyer, a student at the fictional Westerburg High School in Ohio. Veronica is friends with the most popular girls in her school, a group of three women all named Heather. But Veronica finds the girls’ cruel actions towards their fellow students repulsive, and along with her new boyfriend J.D. (Christian Slater), manages to accidentally poison one of the Heathers. Eventually, it transpires that J.D. is killing students on purpose, and Veronica is forced to stop his murderous rampage.

Unfortunately, this dark comedy was considered a box office flop, making just $982,614 at the global box office. But it has since become a cult classic, and also has the distinction of being Winona Ryder’s highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Heathers” was noteworthy for the way in which it subverted the typical sepia-tinged, wholesome view of high school and adolescence that characterized many of the teen comedies and coming-of-age tales being released at the time. While that didn’t necessarily translate to box office success, the film impressed critics, who seemed much more delighted with its morbid sense of humor than the masses.

Janet Maslin at the New York Times surmised that “Heather” was “as snappy and assured as it is mean-spirited,” while Todd McCarthy, in his review for Variety, dubbed it “a super-smart black comedy about high school politics and teenage suicide that showcases a host of promising young talents.” Elsewhere, The Washington Post’s Desson Howe wrote that the film “may be the nastiest, cruelest fun you can have without actually having to study law or gird leather products.” That all adds up to a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% based on 58 reviews — which is enough to propel it to the top of Winona Ryder’s own Rotten Tomatoes ranking.

Close behind “Heathers” is 2009’s “Star Trek” with 94%, in which Ryder played Amanda Grayson. But while that movie made almost $400 million worldwide, “Heathers,” as we know, did not — making this a real triumph for Daniel Waters’ 1989 effort. Now, it should be said that the rating for “Star Trek” is based on 356 reviews which is a heck of a lot more than “Heathers” and its 58 reviews. But still, it’s nice to see “Heathers” getting some shine in 2024.