Cruel Intentions is based on the film and is a new retelling that follows two step-siblings Caroline (Sarah Catherine Hook) & Lucien (Zac Burgess) who both go to the same school together but are in different sororities. Caroline is the leader of her sorority.

When An accident leads people to consider the end of soriites they have to find a way to stay in power. Annie (Savannah Lee Smith) the vice president’s daughter joins the school. Caroline realises that if Annie joins her sorority she won’t lose her power and the sorority can stay. Caroline makes a bet with her stepbrother, the bet is to have sex with Annie and make her pledge to Caroline’s sorority, in return she will let Lucien have sex with her for up to an hour. 

Cruel Intentions was a great program full of twists and shocking, juicy surprises. I was interested in every moment and was excited to see how events would unfold. Sarah was fantastic as Caroline; she could be badass yet slightly scary while nearly always acting perfect, so when she did let her guard down and didn’t act perfect, it was more shocking to see. Zac as Lucien was very fun; he acted very freely and confidently, without caring what others thought of him, but did it all with confidence from the way he talked and acted. It was great seeing the contrast between both actors in the way they moved and talked. Another great addition was the relationship between Beatrice (Brooke Lena Johnson) and Annie (Savannah Lee Smith), as the program made you understand both sides of where both characters are coming from, so it was hard to side with one or the other. Cece (Sara Silva) was a compelling character who sometimes I felt sad for. I noticed that when others treated her poorly, she would imitate their behaviour and treat others the same way. The series had so many talented actors throughout, who all gave strong performances. I enjoyed some of the outfits and shoes; the sets and parties often had a very elegant, posh feel. The music was another highlight, blending modern songs reimagined as classical pieces, which added a unique and captivating touch.

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed Cruel Intentions, the plot had several issues that detracted from the experience. For instance, relationships between characters were often left unexplained—how they knew each other or what they were doing would simply be presented without context. One example is when a character moves to a new school, by the end of the episode, she’s having a conversation with another character. There’s no mention of them being roommates or any explanation of how they met. Throughout the story, numerous small yet significant plot points felt rushed or overlooked, leaving the audience to piece things together instead of providing clear explanations, sometimes even this wasn’t possible to do. Sean Patrick Thomas returns in a role similar to his character from the original film. However, I had hoped they would bring him back as the same character rather than introducing him as someone new. I also would have liked two characters to have kissed as the show kept teasing it, unfortunately this never happened. 

Overall, Cruel Intentions has a great story. While it can be confusing at times, I still enjoyed the plot and I had lots of fun.