Prime Video has now debuted its TV show remake of the 1999 cult classic film Cruel intentionsboth share a plot with an Oscar-winning 1988 Keanu Reeves film. With programs like I know what you did last summer, Mr and Mrs Smithand CrossAmazon Prime Video’s original TV show slate is at a sequel reimagining hit films from the 1990s and 2000s as modern series. Cruel intentions is the latest title to join this trend, which adjusts the 1999 Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Reese Witherspoon drama to follow two wealthy, status-focused half-siblings in college.
The cast of Cruel intentions‘The show stars Sarah Catherine Hook as Caroline Merteuil and Zac Burgess as Lucien Belmont, the half-siblings who correspond to Kathryn de Gellar and Sebastian de Phillippe from the 1999 film. There are many differences between the TV show and the film outside of the characters’ new names, locations, and ages, but ultimately they follow the same themes and story. Although there may be questions as to why Cruel intentions needed a modern remake, the same question could also have been asked about the 1999 film, itself a modernization of the 18th century French story previously adapted by the 1988 film Dangerous Connections.
Cruel Intentions and Dangerous Connections are based on the same 1782 French book
Cruel Intentions Show and Movie Are Technically Modernizations of Dangerous Bonds
The 1999 Cruel intentions the film can technically be considered a loose, modernized remake of the 1988 film Dangerous Connectionswith both being inspired by the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The original book told the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Viscount de Valmont, former noble lovers turned rivals, finding pleasure in ruining other people’s lives before the French Revolution. The 1988 film Dangerous Connections adapted this story more faithfully to the novel’s original setting, while the 1999 Cruel intentions set the story around the depravity of wealthy teenage stepbrothers in modern New York City.
With Cruel intentions‘TV remake giving the story renewed popularity, it’s an opportune time to revisit Dangerous Connections or watch the star-studded, Oscar-winning period drama for the first time.
Debuting just 11 years earlier Cruel intentions‘ film, Dangerous Connections was met with widespread critical acclaim, culminating in seven Academy Award nominations which included Best Film (losing to rain man), Best Adapted Screenplay (which it won) and Best Actress for Glenn Close. Dangerous Connections It was also one of future action movie star Keanu Reeves’s first roles, preceding his roles in films such as Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Paternityand Breaking point. With Cruel intentions‘TV remake giving the story renewed popularity, it’s an opportune time to revisit Dangerous Connections or watch the star-studded, Oscar-winning period drama for the first time.
Why the modernization of Cruel Intentions is so much more divisive than 1988’s Dangerous Liaisons
Dangerous Liaisons were loved by critics, while the Cruel Intentions adaptations received mixed responses
Although 1988 Dangerous Connections the adaptation was recognized multiple times at the Oscars and still holds a 94% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes today, Cruel intentions‘film and show did not receive the same critical adoration. After grossing US$76 million at the box office, the The 1999 film is now considered a cult classic, but surprisingly holds a 54% share Rotten tomatoes score of critics. The 2024 TV show doesn’t fare much better, as it debuts with a lower 25% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
|
Title |
Critic’s Rotten Tomatoes score |
Audience score on Rotten Tomatoes |
Box office |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dangerous Connections (1988) |
94% |
83% |
US$34.7 million |
|
Cruel intentions (1999) |
54% |
80% |
US$76.3 million |
|
Cruel intentions (2024-present) |
25% |
TBD |
N/A |
Dangerous ConnectionsThe 1988 film was praised for its cast performances, attractive script and costumes, and elegant production and set design. About that, 1999 Cruel intentions received mixed reviews due to the cast’s performance being uneven in tone and caliberwith many critics also finding problems with the film’s script and comedic cynicism. The scandalous story may have fit better within the context of the lavishness of 18th-century French nobility, with some critics perhaps finding the cruel, cynical and social satire less effective when following modern teenagers in Cruel intentions‘show and film.
Source: Rotten tomatoes