The Peter Jackson True Story Classic That Gave Yellowjackets Its Edge
The dark spark behind Yellowjackets was lit by Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 true story starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey—an influence that courses through the hit, three-season thriller about a girls’ soccer team and the trauma that won’t stay buried.
File this under connections I can’t stop thinking about: when Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson were first cooking up Yellowjackets, the thing they couldn’t shake was Peter Jackson’s 1994 drama Heavenly Creatures. The twist? That film stars a young Melanie Lynskey, who now anchors Yellowjackets. The inspiration track is not subtle, and the real-life case behind the movie is even darker than you remember.
The movie that stuck with the creators
Heavenly Creatures is Peter Jackson’s 1994 film based on a true story, starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey. It doesn’t reenact every fact beat-for-beat; instead, it zeroes in on the dizzy emotional bond at the center of the case and the slow, tragic slide into violence.
The real case: Parker and Hulme
The film springs from the Parker-Hulme murder case in 1950s New Zealand. Two teenagers, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, formed an intense friendship that had the adults around them worried. When they found out Juliet’s family planned to separate them, the girls decided the obstacle had to go: Pauline’s mother, Honorah Parker.
They lured Honorah on a walk through Victoria Park and attacked her with a brick wrapped in a stocking. Pauline’s diary later made it clear this wasn’t impulsive; they planned it, and those entries became a key part of the trial. Because both girls were minors, they avoided the death penalty and were detained instead, serving roughly five years each.
How that threads into Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets, now three seasons in, follows a high school girls soccer team after a plane crash and tracks the fallout decades later. It’s about trauma, secrecy, and how bonds that form under pressure can warp over time. You can see why Lyle and Nickerson had Heavenly Creatures on the brain: not for plot, but for that dangerous emotional intensity and the way it snowballs.
- Main cast across the seasons includes Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, Sophie Nelisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, and Sammi Hanratty.
Season 4 status: the long wait
Season 4 is officially happening and it will be the final season. There’s no release date yet. Production isn’t expected to start until 2026, which means most reasonable guesses put the premiere in late 2026 if everything stays on schedule. Translation: it’s going to be a minute.
Where to watch
If you’re catching up or refreshing your memory, all seasons of Yellowjackets are currently streaming on Prime Video.