Cruel Intentions TV Show Completely Wasted Its Best Connection To The 1999 Movie (2025)

Warning: spoilers for the Cruel Intentions TV show.

Prime Video’s Cruel Intentions TV show has a direct connection to the 1999 movie of the same name, but it completely wasted this key link. Directed by Roger Kumble and based on the 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Cruel Intentions introduced the audience to wealthy step-siblings Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe), who make a bet for their own amusement. As Sebastian is known for seducing and manipulating women, he wants a challenge – and who better than Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), the school headmaster’s daughter who is against sex without love.

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If Sebastian fails to seduce Annette, Kathryn gets his beloved vintage car, but if he wins, Kathryn will finally have sex with him. After a failed prequel and a sequel, Cruel Intentions is now back as a TV series on Prime Video. The Cruel Intentions TV show takes the same premise as the 1999 movie but with changes to the settings and the character’s motivations. As such, the Cruel Intentions TV show stars a different cast except for one actor from the movie, but the show completely wasted this key connection.

Cruel Intentions TV Show Brings The Movie's Sean Patrick Thomas Back As A Different Character

Sean Patrick Thomas Plays Another Teacher In The TV Show

Cruel Intentions TV Show Completely Wasted Its Best Connection To The 1999 Movie (1)

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Among the cast of the Cruel Intentions TV show is Sean Patrick Thomas, who, in the movie, plays Ronald Clifford, Cecile’s (Selma Blair) young music teacher. The attraction and romantic tension between Cecile and Ronald are very evident, so Kathryn lets Cecile’s mother know. Ronald is fired, but Kathryn and Sebastian quickly entangle him in their games. They convince Ronald to fight for Cecile and convince him to write her a love letter, which Sebastian later uses to lure her to his bedroom.

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In the TV show, Thomas plays Professor Chadwick, who Caroline’s best friend, CeCe (Sara Silva), convinces to take her in as his assistant. Professor Chadwick and Ronald are different characters, so the show missed the chance to make them the same character. Chadwick and Ronald have many similarities, and it would have made sense for Ronald to have become a teacher at a big university. Even better, seeing Ronald go through the same chaos he went through with Cecile but now with CeCe and Caroline would have been interesting, more so now that he’s in a much higher position of power.

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Cruel Intentions’ Professor Chadwick Has The Same Storyline As The Movie’s Ronald Clifford

Professor Chadwick Went Through Almost The Same As Ronald Clifford

Cruel Intentions TV Show Completely Wasted Its Best Connection To The 1999 Movie (3)

What makes Cruel Intentions’ missed opportunity with Sean Patrick Thomas even more frustrating is that Professor Chadwick and Ronald had the same storyline, with a couple of changes. Chadwick works with the TV show’s equivalent of Cecile, but unlike Ronald, who is closer to Cecile’s age, there’s a significant age gap between Chadwick and CeCe. Still, they agree to try something after she graduates, but when Caroline learns the attraction between them is mutual, she intervenes.

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Just like in the 1999 movie, where Kathryn seduces Ronald and Sebastian finds them in her room, Caroline seduces Chadwick without telling him who she really is, and Lucien finds them having sex. The future of CeCe and Chadwick’s relationship is left unknown at the end of the Cruel Intentions TV show, as Caroline accuses Chadwick of sexual misconduct with his students, but CeCe seems to finally start seeing through Caroline’s lies. As for Ronald, he caused Sebastian’s death after fighting on the street, but it’s unknown what happened to him after that.

Cruel Intentions TV Show Completely Wasted Its Best Connection To The 1999 Movie (4)

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Cruel Intentions

Two ambitious step-siblings at a prestigious Washington, D.C. college will stop at nothing to keep their social standing. After a hazing scandal threatens their control, they resort to extreme tactics, including seducing the vice president's daughter, to safeguard their reputation and influence.

Cast
Sarah Catherine Hook , Zac Burgess , Sara Silva , Khobe Clarke , John Harlan Kim , Brooke Lena Johnson , Sean Patrick Thomas , Savannah Lee Smith

Release Date
November 21, 2024

Network
Prime Video
Cruel Intentions TV Show Completely Wasted Its Best Connection To The 1999 Movie (2025)
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