It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to suggest that there’s an entire generation out there who can trace their sexual awakening right back to 1999’s Cruel Intentions, which found hot young things doing hot bad things, and found massive success as a result.
Even though the sultry antics are comparatively tame when compared to the sexy subgenre’s more titillating efforts, taking a cast of fast-rising stars and dropping them into the middle of a modern-day Dangerous Liaisons update had plenty viewers at the tail end of the VHS era wearing out their tapes.
Sarah Michelle Gellar radiates smoldering energy as her Kathryn indulges in a twisted game with Ryan Phillipe’s Sebastian, placing poor and innocent Reese Witherspoon right in the middle. The chemistry is off the charts in more ways than one, with Cruel Intentions making the upper end of the streaming charts the target of its latest conquest.
Per FlixPatrol, the classic tale of sex, debauchery, and one-upmanship has entered the Paramount Plus charts from the rear to become the ninth top-viewed title on the platform. Ignore the sequels, and keep your fingers crossed that the multiple attempts at rebooting and remaking continue falling by the way side, because it’ll be a task of rock hard proportions to dethrone the OG from its perch as the pinnacle of Cruel Intentions.
The mid-to-late 1990s saw a huge uptick in mainstream erotic thrillers, but none managed to do a better job of enticing the coveted younger demographic than writer and director Roger Kumble.