Cruel Intentions premieres November 21 on Prime Video.
By Elazar Abrahams
2024’s Cruel Intentions reimagines the scandalous 1999 cult classic, but don’t expect a carbon copy. Fans of the original film might be disappointed by the lack of direct ties to its predecessor. Instead, the new series creates its own identity, trading the movie’s 90s prep school decadence for a fresh, college-campus setting steeped in ambition, betrayal, and temptation. For those unattached to the source material, this is a fun and sultry season of television that’s as entertaining as it is easy to binge.
Set in Washington D.C.’s elite Manchester College, the series follows step-siblings Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess), whose schemes to climb the social ladder know no bounds. Their latest target is Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith), the Vice President’s daughter and a picture of moral virtue, making her the perfect foil to their devilish plotting. The show’s strength lies in its engaging character dynamics, which intertwine in increasingly complex and fascinating ways. It’s easy to root for the good kids and just as easy to despise the detestable villains. Viewers will be reaching for the popcorn.
The sickeningly incestuous duo of Caroline and Lucien steal the show, their toxic relationship serving as a compelling A plot for the season, with other storylines playing second fiddle. Hook and Burgess deliver performances that blend charm and malice in a way that makes you unable to look away, while Smith’s Annie adds depth with a mix of vulnerability and inner strength. As their worlds collide, the show offers plenty of tension and drama. Intellectually, audiences will know the problems of college frats and sororities don’t matter in the grand scheme of the life, but when the writing treats these parties and mayhem as the most important thing in the universe, you can’t help but feel the same.
This reboot isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel or aim for high art. Cruel Intentions is not a dollar-menu cheeseburger, nor a gourmet patty. Instead, it occupies this satisfying middle ground: polished, entertaining, and unabashedly indulgent. Fans of guilty-pleasure TV will find plenty to enjoy here, as the series delivers on its promises of scandal and seduction.
I give Cruel Intentions a B.
TV and City 