This New Prime Video Teen Series Is the Worst Remake of Recent Years With 33% on RT

In 1999, the drama Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon was released. The movie was an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' novel.

This was far from the first attempt to bring the work to the screen, and there are currently more than ten adaptations.

A few years ago, screenwriters Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman decided to continue the list of adaptations, but they took the 1999 movie as their basis, not the novel. Their Cruel Intentions is more a remake of a specific film than another adaptation of the novel – no 18th century, just modern times.

What Is Cruel Intentions About?

Caroline and Lucien are half-brother and sister who are used to achieving their goals. After graduating from high school, they enter an elite college and end up in the same sorority.

Caroline's goal is to make this sorority the best at the college, and Lucien's goal is to sleep with all the girls at the school, film the process, and make a collection of such videos.

Soon, the brother and sister's ambitions intersect. The vice president's daughter, Annie, arrives on campus. Caroline wants to get a girl into her sorority, and Lucien wants to add to his collection.

Cruel Intentions Lacks Chemistry Between Characters

The main difference between the series and the movie is that we're no longer dealing with high school kids, but college students – the setting has changed, the characters have grown older, which means it's time to add more sex to the plot.

Surprisingly, despite the efforts, the new Cruel Intentions fails to achieve even half of the tension that permeated the old one. There was fascinating chemistry between Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar, but there is no spark between Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess and Savannah Lee Smith.

The only character worthy of attention is CeCe, who, despite her apparent naivety, manages not only to serve the head of the community, but also to build a career.

CeCe gets a part-time job as a professor's assistant, studies with him, and perhaps plans a little academic romance. Unfortunately, she is not the focus of the story, but Caroline, a princess who tests the audience's patience with her predictable behavior.

Cruel Intentions Is Worse Than Most Teen Shows Released in Recent Years

Cruel Intentions is desperately trying to be the next Gossip Girl, or at least The Sex Lives of College Girls, but it is far inferior to both in every way. It does not have the passion of Elite, it does not have the investigations of Riverdale, it does not have the comedy and horror component of Scream Queens.

Most importantly, it lacks charismatic characters, strong acting and a solid script. Cruel Intentions offers to follow the lives of the beautiful and rich who try to do dirty deeds and achieve success at any cost, but for fans of such stories we already have the dynamic and exciting Industry.