Cruel Intentions review – this generic remake of the 90s classic is utterly mindless

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Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe's movie gets a melodramatic YA remake – with a pair of actors who aren't a patch on the originals. Just dig out the original instead

It's rare to watch TV these days without feeling a hint of deja vu, and nowhere is this more evident than with teen drama. Not content with a needless Gossip Girl revival, the YA entertainment gods have been making their way through old films for inspiration, from Scream to I Know What You Did Last Summer. The latest cult 90s classic they have decided to "reimagine" is Cruel Intentions, itself based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses from 1782.

The original film, of course, starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe as too-close-for-comfort step siblings Kathryn and Sebastian, whose lust for one another is outdone only by their love of troublemaking, as they callously toy with the love lives of ingenues Cecile and Annette (Selma Blair and Reese Witherspoon). Fast forward to 2024, and the action moves from Manhattan to Washington DC, where protagonists Caroline and Lucien terrorise their peers at the elite Manchester College – interspersed with the odd bit of almost-incest for old times' sake.