Cruel Intentions Review

4 star deliciously dark blast from the past.

Cruel Intentions is a fabulously nineties adaptation of the 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. With screenplay and direction by Roger Kumble (Suits, Pretty Little Liars), this 1999 film is set among a group of affluent teenagers during a summer break in Manhattan, rather than the 18th Century France of the original story. 

“The best you can hope for is my friendship and you’re really walking a fine line at that.”

Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scooby-Doo) and her step-brother Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe – Gosford Park, Crash) are both manipulative sexual predators. They live together in an up market mansion in New York City.

It’s the summer break from school and they are both bored. When they discover that the daughter of the new headmaster of their school, Annette (Reese Witherspoon –  Devil’s Knot, Walk the Line) has written an article vowing to save herself until marriage, they make a bet. If Sebastian can deflower her before term starts, he can do anything he likes to his promiscuous sister Kathryn on whom he has a crush. If he loses, she gets his vintage Jaguar XK140.

In the meantime, Kathryn is plotting revenge on Cecile (Selma Blair – Hellboy, The Sweetest Thing), an innocent young girl about to start at their school who happens to be dating Kathryn’s ex-boyfriend. She is also in love with her cello teacher Ronald (Sean Patrick Thomas – Barbershop, Save the Last Dance) providing plenty of ammunition for her campaign.

Watch as these teenagers go through a summer of destruction of lives and reputations all ready for the start of the new school year.

Cruel Intentions is very unmistakably nineties, in looks and attitude. Fans of Buffy may well be shocked to see Sarah Michelle Gellar in such a raunchy role, but she does it very well. It’s a great story, cleverly brought up to date and well written and acted, so much so it’s quite hard to watch in places.

It also boasts an excellent soundtrack featuring some of the greats of the era including Placebo and The Counting Crows. Out now on Amazon Prime courtesy of Signature Entertainment, this one is most definitely worth revisiting and if you haven’t seen it yet you’re in for a treat.

“Can you imagine the humiliation your father will feel when he finds out his pride and joy is a fudge packer?”

Cruel Intentions is available to stream now on Amazon Prime.