Cruel Intentions (1999)

Name: Cruel Intentions
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 1999-03-05
Duration: 1 h 37 min
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Louise Fletcher

Film · 1h 37m · Rated R

Drama, Romance

Wealthy stepsiblings play a cruel game of seduction, using others as pawns in their darkly comedic, briskly paced drama.

Campy and pulpy, with dark satire. A date-night pick at a brisk pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Kanopy (free), Hoopla (free), The Roku Channel (free), YouTube (free) and 1 more.

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Cruel Intentions parents guide

Heads up on strong sex and nudity. That is past what the R on the box suggests. Beyond that, some violence and some strong language.

Scare: Not scary
Jump scares: None noted
Gore: No gore
Violence: Some violence; Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity: Strong; Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.
Language: Moderate; Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

What is Cruel Intentions about?

Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower their headmaster's daughter before the summer ends. If he succeeds, the prize is the chance to bed Kathryn. But if he loses, Kathryn will claim his most prized possession.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

There is a twist, and that is all we are saying.