If Gossip Girl and The OC crawled into bed with Dawson’s Creek and Maxton Hall: The World Between Us and dragged a pervy, twisted step-sibling under the covers with them, you would find yourself in the middle of the steamy, soapy sexcapade that is Cruel Intentions. The new Prime Video series is a frisky modern-day adaptation of the 1999 film version headlined by Sarah Michelle Geller, Reese Witherspoon, and Ryan Phillippe, which in turn was adapted from Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Oh, the many wicked webs this series spins, most of them far too over the top to feel grounded in reality, but hey, we’re in the TikTok era, so if audiences are prone to stop and enjoy a social media live stream of some buffed shirtless fella or watch a middle-aged woman clean her kitchen in nothing but underwear, why not a Cruel Intentions series? There's more than enough flesh-on-flesh in this series, and even more talk about it, in fact. Beyond the sex, there are other things to enjoy here as the show sails ambitiously through a season filled with schemes, love affairs, cultural observations on — what's this? — fascism and misogyny, and a bevy of plot twists as key players vie for power within the Greek university system.
The Guilty Pleasures of 'Cruel Intentions'
Two ambitious step-siblings at a prestigious Washington, D.C. college will stop at nothing to keep their social standing. After a hazing scandal threatens their control, they resort to extreme tactics, including seducing the vice president's daughter, to safeguard their reputation and influence.
- Release Date
- November 21, 2024
- Cast
- Sarah Catherine Hook , Zac Burgess , Sara Silva , Khobe Clarke , John Harlan Kim , Brooke Lena Johnson , Sean Patrick Thomas , Savannah Lee Smith
- Seasons
- 1
- Network
- Prime Video
- An attractive, fierce young cast does a good job with boldly vicious material.
- There are some interesting twists throughout, and the series distinguishes itself from the movie in strong ways.
- The show is too satisfied with its own hedonism and soapiness that it rarely attempts much else.
- It often feels like a compilation of YA shows from the past 25 years, like Gossip Girl and The O.C.
Showrunner Sara Goodman — a seasoned pro from Preacher, Gossip Girl, and TV’s I Know What You Did Last Summer — appears to pull from her greatest hits playlist here, using what's worked before to create a basic template that audiences will find alluring. This show tracks the elite students of Manchester College, a Washington, D.C.-area university where bratty things unfold. Reputation means everything here, so you’ll have your fair share of fraternities and sororities and all the fuss about acceptance that comes with it. You see, these upper crust students consider these outposts as their assured shot into something greater beyond college. Shame they didn’t watch, well, something like a Cruel Intentions-type film to use as a better guide.
So, here we are. Enjoy the ride. It’s guilty fun. Meet: Alpha Fem Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook), sorority prez and all-around diva. Caroline is fretting about staying atop the hierarchy at school, and she and her step-brother, the overtly cocksure Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess), are determined to get their way. A brutal hazing incident from the previous school year has dampened the entire Greek Life system, which means Caroline will do whatever is necessary to keep its power and reputation intact.
Hello, Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith). You’re a fine target. Annie is the daughter of the Vice President of the United States. She’s smart, too. But Lucien is wickedly persistent and too invested in his awfully familial sibling dynamic. His pay-off? If he beds Annie and secures her desire to pledge Caroline's sorority — which would elevate Caroline's status — then his step-sis will finally give herself over to him. Savage beasts!
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Meanwhile, other characters fill up this so-called royal court. There’s the gay couple, Blaise and Scott (John Harlan Kim and Khobe Clark), the former a tricky and wooden character in command of that situation, plotting other things on the side. Expect the character of Cece Carroway (Sara Silva) to test your patience. She’s Caroline’s main go-to and OCDs her OCD, but as the episodes go on, there’s something brewing on the sidelines after she becomes TA to Sean Patrick Thomas’ Professor Hank Chadwick. The series is packed with characters and scenarios, yet it moves along breezily, a big plus, especially when things get far more wicked.
Sick Step-Siblings Take a Course in Sex & Backstabbing
We've been promised that "hearts will be broken, loyalties will be tested, and secrets will be revealed" in this modern-day upgrade of the story. All those land as expected, but showrunner Sara Goodman doesn't want to linger too long on any one thing or any big reveal. That helps move this odyssey along, although you wonder what would happen if we did take time to pause. These folks need a minute, after all, for beneath Caroline's witchy ways lies somebody deeply affected by the past. Surely, a therapist would have a field day (and generate a a chunk of cash) unpacking her and Lucien's twisted attraction and devotion to each other.
The two characters make a fine pair of antagonists, of course, following in the individual footsteps of their soap opera predecessors — Fallon (Dynasty) and Oliver (The O.C.) immediately come to mind. Sarah Catherine Hook gives the series some spice and Zac Burgess, while effective, is initially given lines and scenes that only afford him so much range. How many times can this stud-in-training strut around looking for his next sexual conquest? Plenty, apparently.
How the Cruel Intentions Series Connects to the Original Movie
It has been 25 years since the '90s cult classic Cruel Intentions first premiered, and now the film will be reimagined on the small screen.
There's a nice spin in later episodes with Caroline and Lucien. Some of the main differences from the original movie include: Sean Patrick Thomas, who was piano teacher Ronald Clifford in the 1999 film, plays a different character and must deal with CeCe's ambitious nature. CeCe, in fact, is based on the character of Cecile from the film (played by Selma Blair). The character of Annette (Reese Witherspoon in the original) is simply Annie.
On that note, because everything ultimately swirls around the Vice President's daughter, Annie (Gossip Girl's Savannah Lee Smith), a twisty love triangle soon takes shape, but as is the case with many sibling dramas, loyalties are tested. In this case, it's Caroline and Lucien's freaky bond that could fracture at any given moment. Elsewhere, frat life and sorority agendas pepper the outing, giving viewers a decent look inside a prestigious college setting and what sorts of things unfold for the students, especially the ones in Greek life, where high-profile (read: wealthy) kids elevate the status of a sorority, thereby maintaining a fruitful future. If only these kids would behave.
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'Cruel Intentions' Fails to Rise Above Its Own Debauchery
The look and feel of the college setting is believable, as the showrunner effectively drop us into this Cruel universe, making us want to return to it. It helps that there are great bitchy lines. "You don't have feelings," purrs one character. "You are devoid, soulless, and so incredibly f***ing stupid. The only way you can get off is if you're doing it for me." Ouch!
Party scenes and sex scenes flow through the story, and while the series wins points when it attempts to expose some of the vulnerabilities of its key characters, it never quite transcends the material. Ultimately, the potential of landing on deeper truths, their significance, and potential personal transformations are brushed aside for more soapy melodrama. As is the way with most new dramas, those bigger reveals populate the last few episodes.
Cruel Intentions feels like it'll be instantly popular, even with all its similarities to other high school and college dramas that, well, all feel like a reworked version of the original Cruel Intentions. So enjoy the ride. Binge at will. There's no harm in having yet another guilty pleasure, and Cruel Intentions easily becomes one. You may feel like you need a shower after watching, but in the meantime, lather up. Cruel Intentions streams on Prime Video on November 21. You can watch it through the link below:
Watch Cruel Intentions
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