‘Cruel Intentions’ season 1 review: An adaptation full of sizzle but no spark

The cruelest fate to happen to a TV adaptation is one of missed potential. That’s the feeling you’ll get from Prime Video’s new soapy drama, Cruel Intentions. Based on the 1999 film of the same name (starring Sarah Michelle Geller and Ryan Philippe), which was inspired by the 1782 novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, there was a lot of source material to work from here. The modern retelling of two step-siblings weaving a manipulative game of lies, power, and sex was a captivating movie that reeled us in. However, Cruel Intentions Season 1 didn’t pack a big enough bite to leave us with the same allure.

A pair of deals

Cruel Intentions suffered from the same trap that many adaptions fall into. Specifically, it tried hard to mimic the essence of the past, but the series didn’t capture the same magic or rhythm. Cruel Intentions isn’t terrible by any means; it’s a guilty-pleasure drama that plays up its camp and awful decisions from awful characters. From that description alone, it matches much of the same general idea from the movie and the book. And if you’re into sorority/fraternity plot lines in the spirit of Greek or Scream Queens, this will be right up your alley. The problem is that the TV series lowered the stakes to match its new setting and characters, which caused the foundation of the story to cave in.

In the new TV adaptation, Cruel Intentions centers on Caroline Merteuil’s (Sarah Catherine Hook) goal of getting the vice-president’s daughter Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith) to pledge her sorority. Caroline makes a deal with her step-brother Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) that if he can get Annie to pledge, she will agree to sleep with him. If he fails, she gets his valuable classic car. Already, this deal pales in comparison to the tension of the movie.

In the film, Gellar and Philippe’s Kathryn and Sebastian concoct the same deal, but one about taking the virginity of the new headmaster’s daughter. During the same time, Kathryn and Sebastian scheme to destroy another girl’s reputation. Both plots reveal the pair’s heartless ambition to use the people around them, and eventually, their tortured character development. In this case, Caroline’s goal was more about pleasing her mother’s ambition, while Lucien couldn’t care less about anything around him. At times, Cruel Intentions Season 1 felt like Caroline’s story with a brother who had a surface-level personality that everyone loved.

Sibling rivalry

Cruel Intentions would’ve benefitted from having more scenes of Lucien and Caroline together. The underlying sexual tension is a theme that crossed every adaptation of this story; without it, we lose a sense of how close this pair was and how much of a fit they were together. The series approached it in a manner that it expected you as the viewer to know the movie and its dynamic. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work in an 8-episode first season. Sure, there were a few flirtatious and surprising moments early on, but the true intimacy didn’t emerge until mid-way through the season. We needed more to their relationship to show us why Lucien would agree to a deal to sleep with Caroline.

And more importantly, we needed more scenes to flesh out Lucien’s character and humanity. As mentioned above, Lucien was a very surface-level and cold character; his plot line could be summed up with sex, quippy retorts, and a deadpan tone. In the few moments where he showed support to Caroline, the series gave us a bright spark of where his character could go. But for the majority of Cruel Intentions Season 1, his character stuck to the same pacing. We were treated to development with Caroline’s story, Annie finding herself, CeCe’s (played by Sara Silva) wants, and even Blaise’s downfall with Scott (John Harlan Kim and Khobe Clarke, respectively).

This may be a direction and material issue. Burgess did a good job portraying the character on screen, as well as the rest of the cast channeling their characters. Lucien didn’t have much to deal with, which didn’t help as he was one of the two main leads. Comparatively, Caroline’s story and development had the most weight to it. Cruel Intentions Season 1 showcased the character’s superficial ambition, her manipulations, and her terrible relationship with her mother. By season’s end, we easily understood who Caroline was as a person, but it faltered in her pull towards Lucien. The same issue can extend to everyone’s story as well.

Interpretation vs. inspiration

Speaking of the rest of the characters, Cruel Intentions made some interesting choices with their interpretations. For instance, CeCe was performed as a hyper-anxious, superficial follower who moved and talked a mile a minute. Scott was a meathead who seemed to lack any intelligence, let alone common sense. And Blaise looked to be more cunning and self-serving than the film. Some changes helped to grow the archetypes beyond their source material for the better; like Blaise felt like a fully fleshed character here. On the other hand, CeCe’s dialogue needed a strong case of edits to tone the energy levels down.

Hopefully, a second season will refine their development into well-rounded roles. One such character that would benefit would be Annie. Don’t get me wrong, she had good growth throughout the first season from being the naïve freshman to the empowered gameplayer. However, Cruel Intentions Season 1 made her into the “Vanilla Protagonist” trope. She didn’t have much personality and she felt more like an unwitting game piece in Caroline and Lucien’s scheme. Whether it was her friend Beatrice pushing her to protest or Caroline toying with her during pledge week, Annie served more as our POV than herself. Based on the cliffhanger, we could thankfully be seeing a new start to her story.

Cruel Intentions Season 1 is a hit-or-miss adaptation of a beloved ‘90s classic. If you enjoy campy young adult dramas filled with manipulation and university plots, you’ll soak up this 8-episode season. But if you want a steamy, tension-filled, and smart drama exactly like the film, you’ll be left underwhelmed. There are a few issues that need to be fixed in the future, and the overall plot doesn’t hold the same weight. Try not to hold it in the same regard and set your expectations for the story.

Cruel Intentions is available to stream now on Prime Video.

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Images courtesy of Jasper Savage/Prime Video