Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Raunchy Thriller Will Awaken Something Inside You

Written by Chris Snellgrove | Updated 1 hour ago

You don’t have to click through all those suspicious words “What are you doing bro?” videos online to learn that there is a strange and disturbing cultural fascination with this topic. It sounds like a very modern phenomenon, but it’s not: in fact, this was at the heart of the most racist film of the ’90s, one that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as someone who wanted to do the unthinkable.

This movie is Cruel intentions (1999), and if you’re ready to experience the wildest, most extreme film starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you can now stream this bizarre film on Prime Video.

What do you do?

The plot is insanely salacious Cruel intentions It’s that a guy wants to seduce a very good girl so that he can win the most important prize of all: his stepsister. Achieving this seduction will require him to become a master manipulator who is not afraid to destroy the lives of many people in order to get what he wants. Once he realizes his feelings for the primal and right girl he’s trying to fool, it’s clear that his life will never be the same.

Cast Cruel intentions Full of surprises, including Ryan Phillippe (aka… Shatter). He’s a wealthy teenager fed up with the ease of bedding women and sets himself a challenge: the daughter (played by Reese Witherspoon, famous for… Legally blonde) by its director, the girl who does not believe in intimacy before love.

He has a bet with his sister (played by… Buffy the Vampire Slayer Icon Sarah Michelle Gellar), and if he wins, she’ll sleep with him. Along the way, he also finds time to corrupt a naive girl played by Selma Blair (famous for… Hellboy).

A huge success at the box office

Compared to its modest budget of $10.5 million, Cruel intentions It was a smash hit (about teenagers trying to break it), earning $75.9 million at the box office. This led to two sequels, although both were disappointing straight-to-DVD hits. Interestingly, there was also a TV series planned for 2016 that never made it past the pilot stage and 2024 Cruel intentions A TV show that didn’t have enough staying power to last more than one season.

when Cruel intentions The professional reviewers walked out and didn’t know what to do with it. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 54 percent, with critics complaining that the charisma of the film’s cast wasn’t enough to make up for the uneven script and equally uneven performances.

Audiences disagreed, with the film receiving an 80 percent on Popcornmeter. Moviegoers generally praised this film for its provocative story and salacious plot, and generally agreed on an important point: You should not try to watch this steamy film when your parents are around!

Literary roots didn’t help Cruel Intentions

Although Cruel intentions It has some major literary roots (it is an adaptation of the famous 1782 novel Dangerous relationships), its cultural cachet did not help the film win any major awards, such as an Academy Award or a Golden Globe Award. It has notably taken home some other awards, including two MTV Movie Awards (including Best Kiss Smooch between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair) and two Teen Choice Awards (including Choice Movie and, amusingly, Choice Movie Sleazebag for Gellar). These awards help highlight how popular this film was among the young audiences who ate it, although its raunchy subject matter left critics scratching their heads.

I was still in high school when Cruel intentions I went out, and I was one of the young men who were stunned by the risky plot. At the time, I appreciated that the film was filled with so many beautiful faces, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, the film’s leading lady. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (One of my favorite shows). In this way, the film is completely meta, using its attractive stars to help sell a taboo story in the same way that Ryan Phillippe’s character uses his good looks to deceive people who should know better.

Cruel intentions seen through a modern lens

When I revisited this film as an adult, I was blown away by how great the plot was. This can easily be overlooked among all the racy content. For example, the character of Philip feels like a precursor to Barry Keoghan’s character Saltburn a personality. Each of them is a master at using manipulation to get what they secretly want.

Cruel intentions He has a lot to say about the intersection of desire and American puritan culture. The screenplay explores how flawed it can be to reconcile your own desires with what society considers “normal.”

Would you agree to that? Cruel intentions Is it an entertaining film full of great performances, or is this the only film you want to throw in the washing machine? Don’t be surprised if this decades-old film awakens something inside you that you’ll never be able to put back to sleep.