Jawbreaker

Plot

The "Flawless Four" are the most popular and beautiful senior girls attending Reagan High School, consisting of Courtney Alice Shayne, Marcie Fox "Foxy," Julie Freeman, and Elizabeth "Liz" Purr. Of the four, only Liz is the "Princess Di of Reagan High" because she is extremely beautiful and genuinely kind-hearted and loved by the entire school. Julie is "Doomed To Be Popular" because of her looks and being best friends with Liz, while queen bee Courtney and her airhead follower, Marcie, demand respect through terror.

On the morning of Liz's 17th birthday, Courtney, Marcie, and Julie kidnap Liz and gag her with a jawbreaker. They lock her in the trunk of a car and drive off, planning to take her to a restaurant for breakfast. Upon opening the trunk, they discover Liz has choked to death on the jawbreaker.

Julie wants to report the situation to the police, but Courtney instead calls the school posing as Liz's mother to tell them Liz is ill and cannot attend; the three later go to school. To explain the circumstances of Liz's death, Courtney devises a story that she was killed by a rapist. She also later spreads false rumors to Detective Vera Cruz that Liz was actually a rebellious and promiscuous girl who frequents bars for hookups.

Assistant Principal, Miss E. Sherwood sends outcast Fern Mayo to deliver Liz's homework to her after school. Fern, who admires Liz to the point of worship, is happy to oblige. Upon arriving at the house, she encounters the three girls planting Liz's dead body in her bed and flees in horror. The girls catch her and buy her silence by enticing her to take Liz's place in the Flawless Four. Fern is given a dramatic makeover to a beautiful exchange student named "Vylette."

Overwhelmed by guilt at her part in Liz's death, Julie distances herself from the clique, but is tormented by her former friends and becomes a new target for bullying throughout the school. Her only real friend during this time is her boyfriend, Zach Tartak, the drama lead in the school play. As Vylette's popularity soars, Julie silently watches as Courtney weaves a web of lies to cover up the murder. Julie speculates that, after they returned Liz to her house, Courtney seduced a stranger at a bar to have sex with in Liz's bed, making it seem as though he had raped Liz, but she needs to find proof of her theory.

Production

Development

Writer-director Darren Stein initially conceived the screenplay for Jawbreaker as a horror film about a prank gone awry. "I went to an all-boys school. I only got to apprehend co-educational teenage culture through movies like Carrie or Heathers or the John Hughes movies," said Stein. "So I was like, 'Oh, that’s so cool. Michelle got kidnapped; that would be a really great idea for a horror movie.' What if the girls who kidnapped her are like Heathers-type girls, you know? This trio of really bitchy girls and she accidentally dies? That’s the horror of it."

Casting

Stein brought his script to executives at Columbia TriStar, who agreed to finance the film if he could cast Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, or Rose McGowan.

The role of Julie originally went to Rachael Leigh Cook, who was eventually replaced with Rebecca Gayheart because the producers felt she did not have the right chemistry with the two other actresses. Gayheart had auditioned for the roles of Fern and Marcie before she was selected for Julie. Marilyn Manson, who was then dating McGowan, agreed to appear in a non-speaking cameo role.

Filming

On a small budget of $3.5 million, Jawbreaker was filmed at locations in and around the Los Angeles area in 1998. Reagan High School was actually University High School in West Los Angeles, with the cafeteria scenes filmed at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. The diner that the girls drive up to at the beginning of the film is Johnie's Broiler in Downey, California, the filming site for many film and television productions. McGowan based her performance on that of Gene Tierney's sociopathic character in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).

The distinctive costumes were designed by Vikki Barrett, who drew on 1980s and 1950s-era fashion trends blended with fetishistic elements like lycra skirts, all in bright candy colors to evoke the jawbreaker.

Release

Before the film could be released, the MPAA objected to a graphic sex scene between McGowan's and Marilyn Manson's characters, which had to be cut down to give the film an R rating instead of an NC-17. To accompany the release of the film, Imperial Teen's music video for the song "Yoo Hoo" featured McGowan as Courtney Shayne harassing the band members with jawbreakers.

Jawbreaker premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 1999, before being released theatrically in the United States on February 19, 1999.

Home media

Columbia TriStar Home Video released Jawbreaker on VHS and DVD on June 22, 1999. On April 5, 2011, it was released on Blu-ray for the first time. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment issued a 20th anniversary Blu-ray on November 19, 2019, featuring a new audio commentary with cast and crew members.

Reception

Box office

During its opening weekend, Jawbreaker earned $1,603,425 at the United States box office, ranking number 13. It remained in exhibition for 45 weeks, grossing a total of $3,117,085 domestically.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 17% of 65 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "This throwaway comedy falls victim to its hip sensibilities." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 22 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave Jawbreaker a grade D+.

A number of film critics noted the film's similarities to Heathers (1988), deeming it derivative as a result. Desson Howe of The Washington Post compared the film negatively against Heathers, concluding: "Unfortunately, Jawbreaker fails to answer the unspoken question it raises: Why sit through a lesser imitation?" Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon also commented on the film's parallels to Heathers, writing that it "fancies itself a wicked satire on youth, death and the disposability of image... Jawbreaker may promise a series of gleefully cheap thrills, but in the end all it delivers is a whole lot of bad taste."

Lisa Alspector of the Chicago Reader also deemed the film as "derivative," adding: "Lame shock scenes, crucial plot points inserted without setups, and an unsuccessful attempt to exploit the camp value of some actors cast in minor parts are the least of the problems in this black comedy." Paul Tatara, writing for CNN, was unimpressed by the film's exaggerated visual elements and lambasted McGowan's performance in the film, though he wrote favorably of Gayheart's performance, noting: "There's something invitingly earthy and open about her, even as she's caught up in the director's empty, film-school shenanigans." Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half out of four stars, stating, "The movie is a slick production of a lame script ... If anyone in the plot had the slightest intelligence, the story would implode."

James Berardinelli gave the film a more favorable two and a half out of four stars, calling it "palatable, and occasionally even clever", but concluding, "while the film offers more than a Heathers rehash, it never fully develops its own identity". Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised the film's style, noting that "Stein plays enthusiastically with every spinning circle and candylike prop he can find. The film's bright look and visual energy are much more liberating than the machinations of its teen queens." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Nick Carter also gave the film a favorable assessment, praising it as "a low-level cult classic, good for future rewind moments." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film's direction, assessing it as a "wickedly hilarious send-up of high school mores" with a "dark view of teenagers."

Legacy

Despite the negative critical feedback, Jawbreaker found success through home video release and subsequent television airings; it has developed a cult following. Vice magazine called the film a "teen classic" when it published a retrospective in 2016 titled "Perverting the Youth of America: The Oral History of Teen Classic Jawbreaker". Similarities have been drawn between Jawbreaker, Heathers, and the 2004 film Mean Girls. Dazed magazine published a similar feature, crediting the film with inspiring 2004's Mean Girls, and praising the dark tones and performances.

McGowan's Courtney Shayne has become something of a pop culture icon on social media, with TribecaFilm.com declaring of McGowan's performance that "...every single line-reading was a thing of Bette Davis-aspiring beauty, and with any justice, it's a performance that will only grow in esteem over time."

Jawbreaker's costumes have also been celebrated, drawing praise from the likes of Vogue and Rookie magazines. The scene where the actresses strut down the hallway in slow-motion to Imperial Teen's "Yoo Hoo" has become a signature feature of the film, drawing homage in film and television, most notably Mean Girls, and being parodied in films like Not Another Teen Movie (2001).

In 2014, Judy Greer said in an interview: "I really didn't think it was anything special while we were shooting it, but when I saw the final product, I knew it was really good. I was so proud of it. I thought it looked beautiful. It had just the right amount of sexy, pop culture fun to it. I do think it's quite special."

Music

Soundtrack

"Yoo Hoo" (Imperial Teen) – 3:31

"I See" (Letters to Cleo) – 3:56

"Next to You" (Ednaswap) – 2:35

"Don't Call Me Babe" (Shampoo) – 2:58

"Bad Word for a Good Thing" (The Friggs) – 2:53

"Stay in Bed" (Grand Mal) – 4:49

"Flow" (Transister) – 5:59

"She Bop" (Howie Beno feat. Cruella DeVille, a.k.a. Lucia Cifarelli) – 3:06

"Water Boy" (Imperial Teen) – 1:36

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" (Scorpions) – 4:14

"Rock 'n' Roll Machine" (The Donnas) – 2:54

"Beat You Up" (The Prissteens) – 2:36

"Trouble" (Shampoo) – 3:21

Songs Not Included on the Official Soundtrack

Veruca Salt, "Volcano Girls" (Opening Credits) – 3:30

The Cars, "Good Times Roll" (The Girls Carry Liz Upstairs) – 3:46

Jack Drag, "Where Are We" (Julie Calls Fern) – 3:16

Connie Francis, "Lollipop Lips" (Courtney and Dane's Scene) – 2:14

Tiffany, "I Think We're Alone Now" (Marcie's Dad Singing during Dinner, Not Played) – 3:50

Score

The Jawbreaker: Original Motion Picture Score was composed and performed by Stephen Endelman, consisting of 15 tracks. It was manufactured by Varèse Sarabande Records and distributed by Universal Music & Video Distribution.

Track List

"The Birthday Present" – 2:53

"The Plot" – 1:47

"The Cover Up" – 2:55

"Fern Transformed" – 2:05

"School Walkway" – 0:38

"The Arrival" – 2:29

"Vera Cruz Interrogation" – 1:55

"Fern's Starfish" – 1:18

"Fern Exposed" – 2:05

"Nightmare" – 0:32

"Jawbreaker" – 1:49

"The Drive-In" – 1:47

"Graduation" – 2:38

"Young At Heart" – 2:43

"Class of '99" – 2:09

Musical Adaptation

Jawbreaker: The Musical is set to make its stage debut as a workshop production at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, running September 4–20, 2026, produced by Knot Free Productions. Directed by Matt DiCarlo with choreography by Jay Jackson (also known as drag performer Laganja Estranja), book by Darren Stein, with original music by Jeff Thomson and lyrics by Jordan Mann.

Rebecca Gayheart, who played Julie Freeman in the original film, will return to play Principal Sherwood. She is joined by Aj Paramo as Fern Mayo, Méami as Courtney Shayne, Kristen Seggio as Julie Freeman, Jane Papageorge as Marcie Fox, Will Riddle as Zach Tartak (billed as "Zack Tartak" in the production's promotional materials), Mireya Zoé Nevel as Elizabeth Purr, and Brandon Keith Rogers as Dane Sanders, with ensemble members Dominic DeCicco, Mitchell Gerrard Johnson, Kayla Quiroz, and Avery Rehl. Casting for the production was managed by Tal Fox Studio.

Earlier Musical Adaptation

In 2010, efforts began to adapt Jawbreaker into a musical. On July 29, 2010, a Los Angeles concert presentation occurred starring Shoshana Bean, Lesli Margherita and Jenna Leigh Green. Original film writer-director Darren Stein returned to write the book while Jeff Thomson and Jordan Mann wrote original music and lyrics. Jen Bender directed the production with musical direction by Adam Gubman.

On October 13, 2011, a Manhattan reading occurred with Diana DeGarmo in the role of Fern Mayo. Gabriel Barre directed this reading.

On September 26 and 27, 2013, MadBromance Productions hosted a 29-hour reading of Jawbreaker: The Musical in Manhattan. Starring Elizabeth Gillies as Courtney Shayne, Gillies was joined by JoJo as Julie, Diana DeGarmo as Fern Mayo, and Libby Servais as Foxy. Gabriel Barre directed once again while Shea Sullivan choreographed, and James Sampliner provided musical direction.

Demo Recording

A six-track demo CD for Jawbreaker: The Musical was produced by MadBromance Productions during the show's early development, tied to their 29-hour reading held September 26–27, 2013, in Manhattan. The demo was distributed at an industry-invite-only workshop performance and was never commercially released.

Track Listing:

"Dress to Kill" – 5:02

"Peachy Keen" – 4:38

"Pretty Little Games" – 4:53

"All About Vylette" – 3:19

"Queen Bitch" – 3:25

"Skin Deep" – 4:18

Music by Jeff Thomson, lyrics by Jordan Mann, book by Darren Stein, based on his film.

The musical, at that time, was described as having a "propulsive pop score that ranges from Lady Gaga-style synth pop to lush melodic ballads, Jawbreaker feels both timeless and today, presenting a mythic high school story that speaks to the teenager in us all."

Television series

In February 2017, it was announced that the film would be reimagined as a television series for E! Darren Stein, the writer and director of the original film, was said to write and produce the series, but no further developments were made.