Cruel Intentions

"In the game of seduction, there is only one rule: Never fall in love."

1999 1h 37m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🥫

55%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 3,704🥫55%Rotten Tomatoes●56Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 219,004

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower their headmaster's daughter before the summer ends. If he succeeds, the prize is the chance to bed Kathryn. But if he loses, Kathryn will claim his most prized possession.

“In the game of seduction, there is only one rule: Never fall in love.”

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Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar
Kathryn Merteuil
Ryan Phillippe
Sébastian Valmont
Reese Witherspoon
Annette Hargrove
Selma Blair
Cecile Caldwell
Louise Fletcher
Helen Rosemond
Joshua Jackson
Blaine Tuttle
Eric Mabius
Greg McConnell
Sean Patrick Thomas
Ronald Clifford

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roger Kumble
Writers: Roger Kumble
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Cruel Intentions Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roger Kumble, shot by Theo van de Sande. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Edward Shearmur. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jeff Freeman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In the game of seduction, there is only one rule: Never fall in love.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roger Kumble directs. Theo van de Sande behind the camera. Edward Shearmur scores. Jeff Freeman cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 7.3× over at the box office.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Cruel Intentions Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Roger Kumble, shot by Theo van de Sande. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Edward Shearmur. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jeff Freeman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In the game of seduction, there is only one rule: Never fall in love.".
9IMDB entry: tt0139134 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 23 themes, including "bet", "virgin", "drug abuse", "sibling relationship".

The technical file

Cinematography: Theo van de Sande
Original score: Edward Shearmur
Editing: Jeff Freeman
Production design: Jon Gary Steele
Costume design: Denise Wingate
Makeup / hair: Brenda Blatt
VFX supervisor: Mat Beck
Sound: Doug Hemphill
Stunt coordinator: Dustin Meier
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,500,000
Box office: $76,347,426
Return: 727% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Cruel Intentions (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 55% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 56/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 219,004 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

8 wins & 14 nominations total

Part of

Cruel Intentions Collection

Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is an adaptation of the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, written by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos in 1782, but set among wealthy teenagers attending high school in New York City instead of 18th-century France. The film started as a smaller budget independent film, but was picked up by Columbia Pictures and released on March 5, 1999. Despite mixed critical reviews, the performances of Gellar, Philippe, and Witherspoon were praised. Cruel Intentions was a box office success, earning $76 million and spawning two further films, both direct-to-video.