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* RichBoredom: Supposedly, Kathryn somehow manages to balance a hard drug addiction and alcoholism and an exemplary academic resume (by blackmailing all her teachers perhaps?). Yet as far as we can tell, she and Sebastian seem to have nothing better to do than lounge around their palatial townhouse while placing bets on how many people they can sleep with and lives they can ruin just to pass the time.
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She never says she\'s Roman Catholic in the film. I would\'ve guessed Episcopalian, but since we don\'t know for sure, let\'s just call her Christian to be safe.
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* LightIsNotGood: Kathryn can't seem to stop telling people how fortunate she is to be a part of the Roman Catholic faith. She speaks as if Jesus Christ is her greatest ally and even wears a rosary as a necklace in public. But despite all that she is an insufferable elitist, and manipulative, spiteful and cruel, and stashes cocaine inside a hollowed-out crucifix at the end of her rosary.
to:
* LightIsNotGood: Kathryn can't seem to stop telling people how fortunate she is to be a part of the Roman Catholic Christian faith. She speaks as if Jesus Christ is her greatest ally and even wears a rosary as a necklace in public. But despite all that she is an insufferable elitist, and manipulative, spiteful and cruel, and stashes cocaine inside a hollowed-out crucifix at the end of her rosary.
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*** Obviously, her true motive was jealousy, but her professed motive was ForTheEvulz. If someone would like to flesh out IAmNotJealous, that would be a fitting trope to add as well in this instance.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: Pretty much a textbook case: Annette is the wife, Kathryn is the seductress and Cecile is the child.
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Splitting Colour Coded For Your Convenience
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* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Sebastian and Kathryn wear black and other dark colors, while Annette prefers white and pastels.
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* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: ColourCodedCharacters: Sebastian and Kathryn wear black and other dark colors, while Annette prefers white and pastels.
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* IronicEcho: Annette meets Kathryn at the end, just before [[spoiler:it emerges she's released the journal, thus destroying the latter]] and asks turns her "in times of trouble, I turn to Jesus" line on her. Kathryn doesn't realise a thing.
to:
* IronicEcho: Annette meets Kathryn at the end, just before [[spoiler:it emerges she's released the journal, thus destroying the latter]] and asks turns her "in times of trouble, I turn to Jesus" line on her. Kathryn doesn't realise a thing.
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Adding one trope, removing another (Too Dumb To Live only applies in case of injury/death, not general stupidity.
* IronicEcho: Annette meets Kathryn at the end, just before [[spoiler:it emerges she's released the journal, thus destroying the latter]] and asks turns her "in times of trouble, I turn to Jesus" line on her. Kathryn doesn't realise a thing.
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* TooDumbToLive: Cecile.
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It\'s an objective trope. There are no instances of SMG doing this (the character gets melodramatic at times, but neither that or the quality of SMG\'s acting make this trope)
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** Some have accused Sarah Michelle Gellar of being this too.
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** [[spoiler: Cecile seemed to be the only one in it for pure revenge; Annette does try to get Kathryn to [[HarryPotter "try for some remorse"]] prior to the reveal and offered up friendship. Her chief reason for outing Kathryn's true nature had more to do with Sebastian's wishes than for Sebastian's vengeance.]]
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** [[spoiler: Cecile seemed to be the only one in it for pure revenge; Annette does try to get Kathryn to [[HarryPotter [[Literature/HarryPotter "try for some remorse"]] prior to the reveal and offered up friendship. Her chief reason for outing Kathryn's true nature had more to do with Sebastian's wishes than for Sebastian's vengeance.]]
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* HairOfGold: Annette
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* HairOfGold: HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Beautiful young virgin Annette
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* CrowningMusicOfAwesome
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* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Annette and Kathryn.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The three female leads are pretty much a textbook case: Annette is the wife, Kathryn is the seductress and Cecile is the child.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The three female leads are pretty Pretty much a textbook case: Annette is the wife, Kathryn is the seductress and Cecile is the child.
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* TheThreeFacesOfEve: The three female leads are pretty much a textbook case: Annette is the wife, Kathryn is the seductress and Cecile is the child.
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* SettingUpdate
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* SettingUpdateSettingUpdate: Of ''DangerousLiaisons''
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* BigBad: Kathryn
**TheDragon[=/=]TheStarscream: Sebastian
**TheDragon[=/=]TheStarscream: Sebastian
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* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The two main characters receive a negative version of this in the prequel.
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* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The two main characters receive [[spoiler: An inverted example. In the prequel Sebastian is kind and considerate, and Kathryn is cold, calculating, and uses sex as a negative weapon; and frequently destroys other peoples lives for her own amusement or revenge. Both try to convert the other to their way of thinking, but Sebastian is broken by Kathryn and ends up becoming a male version of this in the prequel.Kathryn.]]
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Examples Are Not Arguable. This is not even within the scope of the work itself; it\'s conjecture based on what might happen in the future after the film\'s ending.
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** [[spoiler: Potentially Kathryn, too, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism if you choose to be hopeful about her future]].]]
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* CorruptTheCutie
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* CorruptTheCutieCorruptTheCutie: Cecile.
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* http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodSmokingEvilSmoking
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* http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodSmokingEvilSmokingGoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Sebastian is an "evil smoker".
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*http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodSmokingEvilSmoking
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* TeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Almost every student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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* TeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Almost every student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked cruel as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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* TheCakeIsALie: [[spoiler:When Sebastian comes to collect from Kathryn, she just laughs in his face and gives him a ReasonYouSuckSpeech]].
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* TheCakeIsALie: [[spoiler:When Sebastian comes to collect from Kathryn, she just laughs in his face and gives him a ReasonYouSuckSpeech]]. Unusually for this trope, there is no indication that it was a lie from the start, and it seems like [[spoiler: Kathryn intended to keep her end of the deal until she realised Sebastian had truly fallen for Annette and got jealous.]]
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* FreudianExcuse: Kathryn states her's in one scene to Sebastian.
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* FreudianExcuse: Kathryn states her's hers in one scene to Sebastian.
* GenreSavvy: Annette sees straight through most of Sebastian's tricks, and doesn't start to fall for him until his feelings are actually genuine.
* ImBack: Sebastian tries to invoke this after [[spoiler: breaking up with Annette]], but he overdoes his performance and he's clearly been crying, so it's not all that convincing.
* RevengeByProxy: The whole reason Kathryn sets Sebastian onto Cecile is to get to Cecile's current boyfriend, who is Kathryn's ex.
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* UnholyMatrimony: Sebastian and Kathryn's parents. When she tells him that her mother suspects his father of doing the maid he says excellent, while he calls her mother a gold digging whore.
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* UnholyMatrimony: Sebastian and Kathryn's parents. When she tells him that her mother suspects his "drunk, impotent" father of doing the maid he says excellent, while he calls her mother a gold "gold digging whore.whore".
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* WomanScorned
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* WomanScornedWomanScorned
* {{Yandere}}: One way of looking at Kathryn. See the ForTheEvulz entry for the other interpretation.
* {{Yandere}}: One way of looking at Kathryn. See the ForTheEvulz entry for the other interpretation.
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* AmIJustAToyToYou: Inverted. Sebastian tells [[spoiler: Annette]] that she was this when he breaks up with her. She doesn't believe him, because he is visibly trembling and miserable as he says it, but still finds it too painful to stay with him.
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* LadykillerInLove: Sebastian
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* TeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Almost very student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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* TeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Almost very every student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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* TeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Every student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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* TeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Every Almost very student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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* TeensAreMonsters
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* TeensAreMonstersTeensAreMonsters: Especially in the prequel, and even more especially in the unaired episodes of the canceled television series that became the prequel. Every student at Manchester Prep turns out to be every bit as wicked as Kathryn and Sebastian.
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[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cruelintentions_9451.jpg]]
''Cruel Intentions'' is a 1999 American drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble. The movie is a comedic and dramatic appropriation of the 18th-century French epistolary novel ''[[Literature/DangerousLiaisons Les Liaisons Dangereuses]]'' by Laclos, but unlike other modern film versions of the novel (''Literature/DangerousLiaisons'') is not set in the France of that time.
The story follows a handful of wealthy teenagers living in modern New York City. The plot is mainly driven by a bet held between the two main characters, and it heavily involves manipulation, seduction, and love in a rich and sophisticated socially elite youth atmosphere.
The film started as an independent film with a much smaller budget, and was later picked up by Columbia Pictures. The film was released on March 5, 1999. It was later followed by two direct-to-video films: a prequel, ''Cruel Intentions 2'', and a sequel, ''Cruel Intentions 3''.
----
!!Tropes associated with this work:
* AdultsAreUseless
* AlphaBitch: Deconstructed with Kathryn. She ''is'' the most popular girl in school and regularly abuses the privilege, but she is also a borderline recluse much of the time and confesses to Sebastian that [[FreudianExcuse she isn't really happy with her life.]] Honestly, her desire to want to humiliate other girls is more out of envy than pure sadism.
* AntiVillain:
** Again, Kathryn (Type II). She's actually more of a JerkassWoobie with the "woobie" part ''significantly'' reduced, in that so many of her cruel schemes are motivated by [[TheGrinch a Scrooge-like resentment toward the rest of the world]]. [[spoiler: When she sheds tears at the end, it's arguably less out of shame than out of relief; she doesn't have to hide any more.]]
** Sebastian, too (also a Type II). He's as scuzzy as his stepsister in the beginning, but as the tale progresses his saving graces become much more evident.
* ArmouredClosetGay: Annette's friend Greg plays on the football team and makes himself out to be a heterosexual jock type. Of course he isn't, which is taken advantage of by Sebastian.
* BatmanColdOpen: Sebastian's session with the psychologist to deal with his "sexual addiction." This also serves as his EstablishingCharacterMoment, where he comes onto his doctor who, after he leaves, receives a phone call from her crying daughter telling her that Sebastian seduced her and let him take nude photos of her that he posts on the internet. Game, set, match.
* TheBet
* BettyAndVeronica: Sebastian must choose between his affections for the sweet, blond Annette and the cruel, dark-haired Kathryn.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Kathryn.
* BittersweetEnding or DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Kathryn gets her comeuppance in the end, but Sebastian dies, both Annette and Cecile seem to have become more corrupted from the experience, and even Kathryn's defeat (set to The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony") [[CryForTheDevil isn't pleasant.]] It's more bittersweet if you choose to be hopeful about all three girls' futures, so it's all up to the audience to decide in the end.]]
* BlondGuysAreEvil: Sebastian and Blaine
* BookEnds: The opening scene is the same as the last scene, except with [[spoiler: Annette replacing Sebastian.]]
* TheCakeIsALie: [[spoiler:When Sebastian comes to collect from Kathryn, she just laughs in his face and gives him a ReasonYouSuckSpeech]].
* CampGay: Blaine
* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: Though their uniforms are more drab and conservative than is popularly portrayed.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Sebastian's journal. He's seen with it throughout the film writing or inserting pictures. He later delivers it to Annette for her to read in order to wipe his slate clean. After Sebastian's untimely death due to Kathryn's manipulation, Annette does something else with it. See Cry For The Devil below.]]
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: The psychiatrist's daughter is a psychological mess.
** Not really, she's been seduced by someone who took nude pictures of her, and she just found out that they've been posted on the internet. Most women, not to mention young teenage girls, would be ''extremely'' upset at this, no matter how psychologically balanced they were.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Sebastian and Kathryn wear black and other dark colors, while Annette prefers white and pastels.
* CorruptTheCutie
* CoveredInMud: In the second film, Sebastian pushes Kathryn in a pool of mud as a declaration of war.
* CryForTheDevil: [[spoiler: Anette knows that Kathryn is ultimately responsible for Sebastian's death through what she read in Sebastian's journal. Many photocopies of it are then made and Anette gets Cecile to distribute it to the other students at school. Kathryn is delivering a eulogy for Sebastian in the chapel when someone enters the church and quietly lets the higher-ups know what is going on. Everyone begins to exit the chapel, prompting an outraged rant from the normally composed Kathryn. She storms out, demanding an explanation....and soon comes to realize that everyone now knows the whole truth about her. As she stands in shock, the school's headmaster comes up behind her and detaches the crucifix from her necklace....causing a trail of cocaine to spill out. This prompts tears of shame from Kathryn to end the movie on a DownerEnding.]]
** But hey, [[spoiler: now that her secret's out, she could always get better with psychiatric help.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: The ending for some, as Kathryn had no intention of killing Sebastian, yet her downfall comes due to her being held responsible.]]
** [[spoiler: Cecile seemed to be the only one in it for pure revenge; Annette does try to get Kathryn to [[HarryPotter "try for some remorse"]] prior to the reveal and offered up friendship. Her chief reason for outing Kathryn's true nature had more to do with Sebastian's wishes than for Sebastian's vengeance.]]
* TheDitz: Cecile.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The two main characters receive a negative version of this in the prequel.
* DivingSave
* EvilGloating
* EvilTastesGood: Kathryn basically says this in one scene.
* [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Evil Is Scared Of Feeling Good]]: "....She made me ''laugh''."
* {{Expy}}:
** Sebastian Valmont is Vicomte de Valmont
** Kathryn Merteuil is Marquise de Merteuil
** Annette Hargrove is Madame de Tourvel
** Cecile Caldwell is Cécile de Volanges
** Ronald Clifford is Chevalier Danceny
** Bunny Caldwell is Madame de Volanges
** Court Reynolds is Comte de Gercourt
** Helen Rosemont is Madame de Rosemonde
** Sebastian's journal represents the letters Vicomte de Valmont possessed
* FlirtyStepsiblings
* ForTheEvulz
--> '''Kathryn:''' You were very much in love with her. And you're still in love with her. But [[ItAmusedMe it amused me]] to make you ashamed of it. You gave up on the first person you ever loved because I threatened your reputation. Don't you get it? You're just a toy, Sebastian. A little toy I like to play with. And now you've completely blown it with her. I think it's the saddest thing I've ever heard.
** At least, she ''says'' that's the reason to Sebastian. It's heavily suggested that [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] in regards to [[FlirtyStepsiblings her twisted relationship with Sebastian]] was the actual driving force at work. In that light, "For the Evulz" is a ''less'' creepy reason.
* [[FrenchJerk French Jerks]]: Okay, technically Sebastian and Kathryn are French-''Americans''. But, they're still jerks.
* FreudianCouch
* FreudianExcuse: Kathryn states her's in one scene to Sebastian.
--> '''Kathryn:''' It's all right for guys to fuck everyone... ...but when I do it, I get dumped for twits like Cecile. God forbid I exude confidence and enjoy sex. Do you think I relish acting like Mary Sunshine so I can be considered a lady? I'm the Marcia-fucking-Brady of the Upper East Side... ...and sometimes I want to kill myself. There's your psychoanalysis, Dr. Freud.
* HairOfGold: Annette
* HandsOnApproach: With a Cello.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** Sebastian, who's every bit as slimy as his stepsister at the beginning, just couldn't continue being such a jerk after Annette genuinely won his heart.
** [[spoiler: Potentially Kathryn, too, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism if you choose to be hopeful about her future]].]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:After Annette is pushed onto the road by Ronald during his and Sebastian's fight, Sebastian pushes her out of the way of an oncoming car and gets hit himself. He would succumb to the accident.]]
* InstantSeduction: Sebastian, apparently. In his first scene he tells a girl that she's beautiful, and the next we see him a few hours later he's already had sex with her.
* InvisibleParents: Sebastian and Kathryn's parents are only vaguely mentioned as being out of the country.
* KissingCousins / {{Twincest}}: The twins in the second movie claim to be KissingCousins, but were played by RealLife twins.
* LargeHam: Ronald. "THE BLACK MAN IS GONE! THE BLACK MAN IS GONE!"
** Some have accused Sarah Michelle Gellar of being this too.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Kathryn's downfall comes about from people whom she screwed over. Her secrets are exposed by the journal of Sebastian, which was copied by Annette and distributed to the student body by Cecile.]]
** Though [[Literature/DangerousLiaisons compared to her eighteenth-century counterpart]], she gets off light, all things considered.
* LeanAndMean: In the form of the rail-like Kathryn.
* LightIsNotGood: Kathryn can't seem to stop telling people how fortunate she is to be a part of the Roman Catholic faith. She speaks as if Jesus Christ is her greatest ally and even wears a rosary as a necklace in public. But despite all that she is an insufferable elitist, and manipulative, spiteful and cruel, and stashes cocaine inside a hollowed-out crucifix at the end of her rosary.
* LoveRedeems: Sebastian, sort of.
** LoveMakesYouEvil: On the other hand, [[spoiler: the last shot of the movie, (Annette driving Sebastian's car, wearing Sebastian's sunglasses, and smirking [[BookEnds like Sebastian did at the start of the movie]]) indicates that loving Sebastian may not have been all too good for Annette...]]
** The [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original ending]] was far less ambigious; in it, [[spoiler: Annette DOES become evil and, instead of publishing Sebastian's journal and expose Kathryn, uses the possibility of doing that to blackmail Kathryn into becoming her minion, who she plans on using to completely fuck around with the social order of her father's school.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Sebastian
* ManipulativeBitch: Kathryn, IN SPADES
* NoodleIncident: Cecile's mother about Sebastian: "I can't believe they didn't expel him after what he did to the school nurse."
* NotBloodSiblings: Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteul.
* PantyShot: Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair) sitting on the couch with her legs open, giving a view of white panties under her khaki short skirt, teasing while in an interview for a college entrance and acceptance.
* PetTheDog: A small moment for Kathryn, when she tells Cecile's mother that Cecile's been seeing Ronald. Kathryn isn't just surprised, but shocked, maybe even angry and upset, when Cecile's mother is angry over Ronald being black (Kathryn thought she would be upset over Ronald being "hired help"). She may be manipulative and play games with people's lives, but race doesn't seem to be an issue for her (further emphasized when [[spoiler: SHE later sleeps around with Ronald as part of her scheme.]])
** Sebastian deliberately goes for this when volunteering to help Annette work at the old people home, with humorous results.
* PopularIsDumb: Subverted as Kathryn and Sebastian are in fact pretty intelligent.
* PracticeKiss: In a LesYay example of this trope, this is proposed by ManipulativeBitch Kathryn to the innocent Cecile, who is worried about making a fool of herself when kissing her boyfriend for the first time. After the kiss Cecile is left breathless, and unconsciously leans forward for more as Kathryn pulls away.
* {{Prequel}}: ''Cruel Intentions 2''....[[InNameOnly sort of]] (It was [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot actually a pilot for a TV show]] that never happened.)
* ReallyGetsAround
* RedemptionEqualsDeath and DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler: Sebastian dies saving the girl he loves from a car crash and in death he owes up to his and his sisters' crimes through his journal that Annette gets published, which exposes their [[TitleDrop cruel intentions.]]]]
* SecretDiary
* SettingUpdate
* SinisterShades
* SmugSnake: Kathryn spirals into this toward the end. For much of the movie, she's very competant and successful at manipulation, but she ''really'' overreaches when she turns on Sebastian, whose assistance was a big contributor to her past success.
* SpitTrailKiss
* TeensAreMonsters
* ThereAreNoAdults: The few adults who do exist on rare occasions are clueless.
* TokenMinority: Ceciles' 'unsuitable' lover, Ronald. Kathryn was expecting Cecile's mother to be shocked at the idea of her daughter dating the "hired help". She's surprised when the mother is instead horrified because Ronald's ''black''.
** [[CaptainObvious In case you ever forget Ronald's black]], [[ViewersAreMorons the subject of his race comes up in every other scene]], such as his plans to write an opera based on Martin Luther King, and Kathryn riling him up to attack Sebastian by claiming Sebastian slept with Cecile.
* TooDumbToLive: Cecile.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Again, Cecile, who gets more bitchy and slutty as the film goes on, just as Kathryn had planned.
* {{Tsundere}}: Sebastian pretty much accuses Annette of being this at one point ("Hot one minute, cold the next")
* UnholyMatrimony: Sebastian and Kathryn's parents. When she tells him that her mother suspects his father of doing the maid he says excellent, while he calls her mother a gold digging whore.
* UnsuspectinglySoused: Becomes something of a running gag across the series.
* VillainousBreakdown: Kathryn at the end.
** Sebastian ''originally'' had one when Kathryn refuses to sleep with him even after he dumps Annette, going into a tearful, psychotic tirade and even hitting Kathryn. However, it was cut out because it lessened the feeling that Sebastian could truly be redeemed. Interestingly, Kathryn still tells Ronald that Sebastian hit her, [[WoundedGazelleGambit making it seem like a lie]] when it was originally meant to be true.
* [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]]
* VirginityFlag: [[spoiler:Annette]] suddenly wears dark clothes in contrast to her former pastel wardrobe. Sebastian also wears a bright blue shirt to symbolize that he has [[spoiler:fallen in love with her]].
* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Subverted with Annette, played straight with Cecile.
* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Ronald with Cecile and Kathryn.
* WickedCultured: Kathryn speaks Vietnamese, French and has sashimi as a midday snack. Sebastian rides, is an expert marksman and quite well read. He also drives a vintage Jaguar, which Kathryn covets.
** It would be more accurate to say the trope is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] or maybe [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]], since Kathryn (by her own admission) only ''pretends'' to be refined; [[SophisticatedAsHell in her private moments, she's quite the crass, foul-mouthed bitch]]. To a lesser extent, Sebastian, too, can be a bit of a lout.
* WomanScorned
''Cruel Intentions'' is a 1999 American drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble. The movie is a comedic and dramatic appropriation of the 18th-century French epistolary novel ''[[Literature/DangerousLiaisons Les Liaisons Dangereuses]]'' by Laclos, but unlike other modern film versions of the novel (''Literature/DangerousLiaisons'') is not set in the France of that time.
The story follows a handful of wealthy teenagers living in modern New York City. The plot is mainly driven by a bet held between the two main characters, and it heavily involves manipulation, seduction, and love in a rich and sophisticated socially elite youth atmosphere.
The film started as an independent film with a much smaller budget, and was later picked up by Columbia Pictures. The film was released on March 5, 1999. It was later followed by two direct-to-video films: a prequel, ''Cruel Intentions 2'', and a sequel, ''Cruel Intentions 3''.
----
!!Tropes associated with this work:
* AdultsAreUseless
* AlphaBitch: Deconstructed with Kathryn. She ''is'' the most popular girl in school and regularly abuses the privilege, but she is also a borderline recluse much of the time and confesses to Sebastian that [[FreudianExcuse she isn't really happy with her life.]] Honestly, her desire to want to humiliate other girls is more out of envy than pure sadism.
* AntiVillain:
** Again, Kathryn (Type II). She's actually more of a JerkassWoobie with the "woobie" part ''significantly'' reduced, in that so many of her cruel schemes are motivated by [[TheGrinch a Scrooge-like resentment toward the rest of the world]]. [[spoiler: When she sheds tears at the end, it's arguably less out of shame than out of relief; she doesn't have to hide any more.]]
** Sebastian, too (also a Type II). He's as scuzzy as his stepsister in the beginning, but as the tale progresses his saving graces become much more evident.
* ArmouredClosetGay: Annette's friend Greg plays on the football team and makes himself out to be a heterosexual jock type. Of course he isn't, which is taken advantage of by Sebastian.
* BatmanColdOpen: Sebastian's session with the psychologist to deal with his "sexual addiction." This also serves as his EstablishingCharacterMoment, where he comes onto his doctor who, after he leaves, receives a phone call from her crying daughter telling her that Sebastian seduced her and let him take nude photos of her that he posts on the internet. Game, set, match.
* TheBet
* BettyAndVeronica: Sebastian must choose between his affections for the sweet, blond Annette and the cruel, dark-haired Kathryn.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Kathryn.
* BittersweetEnding or DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Kathryn gets her comeuppance in the end, but Sebastian dies, both Annette and Cecile seem to have become more corrupted from the experience, and even Kathryn's defeat (set to The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony") [[CryForTheDevil isn't pleasant.]] It's more bittersweet if you choose to be hopeful about all three girls' futures, so it's all up to the audience to decide in the end.]]
* BlondGuysAreEvil: Sebastian and Blaine
* BookEnds: The opening scene is the same as the last scene, except with [[spoiler: Annette replacing Sebastian.]]
* TheCakeIsALie: [[spoiler:When Sebastian comes to collect from Kathryn, she just laughs in his face and gives him a ReasonYouSuckSpeech]].
* CampGay: Blaine
* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: Though their uniforms are more drab and conservative than is popularly portrayed.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Sebastian's journal. He's seen with it throughout the film writing or inserting pictures. He later delivers it to Annette for her to read in order to wipe his slate clean. After Sebastian's untimely death due to Kathryn's manipulation, Annette does something else with it. See Cry For The Devil below.]]
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: The psychiatrist's daughter is a psychological mess.
** Not really, she's been seduced by someone who took nude pictures of her, and she just found out that they've been posted on the internet. Most women, not to mention young teenage girls, would be ''extremely'' upset at this, no matter how psychologically balanced they were.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Sebastian and Kathryn wear black and other dark colors, while Annette prefers white and pastels.
* CorruptTheCutie
* CoveredInMud: In the second film, Sebastian pushes Kathryn in a pool of mud as a declaration of war.
* CryForTheDevil: [[spoiler: Anette knows that Kathryn is ultimately responsible for Sebastian's death through what she read in Sebastian's journal. Many photocopies of it are then made and Anette gets Cecile to distribute it to the other students at school. Kathryn is delivering a eulogy for Sebastian in the chapel when someone enters the church and quietly lets the higher-ups know what is going on. Everyone begins to exit the chapel, prompting an outraged rant from the normally composed Kathryn. She storms out, demanding an explanation....and soon comes to realize that everyone now knows the whole truth about her. As she stands in shock, the school's headmaster comes up behind her and detaches the crucifix from her necklace....causing a trail of cocaine to spill out. This prompts tears of shame from Kathryn to end the movie on a DownerEnding.]]
** But hey, [[spoiler: now that her secret's out, she could always get better with psychiatric help.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: The ending for some, as Kathryn had no intention of killing Sebastian, yet her downfall comes due to her being held responsible.]]
** [[spoiler: Cecile seemed to be the only one in it for pure revenge; Annette does try to get Kathryn to [[HarryPotter "try for some remorse"]] prior to the reveal and offered up friendship. Her chief reason for outing Kathryn's true nature had more to do with Sebastian's wishes than for Sebastian's vengeance.]]
* TheDitz: Cecile.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The two main characters receive a negative version of this in the prequel.
* DivingSave
* EvilGloating
* EvilTastesGood: Kathryn basically says this in one scene.
* [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Evil Is Scared Of Feeling Good]]: "....She made me ''laugh''."
* {{Expy}}:
** Sebastian Valmont is Vicomte de Valmont
** Kathryn Merteuil is Marquise de Merteuil
** Annette Hargrove is Madame de Tourvel
** Cecile Caldwell is Cécile de Volanges
** Ronald Clifford is Chevalier Danceny
** Bunny Caldwell is Madame de Volanges
** Court Reynolds is Comte de Gercourt
** Helen Rosemont is Madame de Rosemonde
** Sebastian's journal represents the letters Vicomte de Valmont possessed
* FlirtyStepsiblings
* ForTheEvulz
--> '''Kathryn:''' You were very much in love with her. And you're still in love with her. But [[ItAmusedMe it amused me]] to make you ashamed of it. You gave up on the first person you ever loved because I threatened your reputation. Don't you get it? You're just a toy, Sebastian. A little toy I like to play with. And now you've completely blown it with her. I think it's the saddest thing I've ever heard.
** At least, she ''says'' that's the reason to Sebastian. It's heavily suggested that [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] in regards to [[FlirtyStepsiblings her twisted relationship with Sebastian]] was the actual driving force at work. In that light, "For the Evulz" is a ''less'' creepy reason.
* [[FrenchJerk French Jerks]]: Okay, technically Sebastian and Kathryn are French-''Americans''. But, they're still jerks.
* FreudianCouch
* FreudianExcuse: Kathryn states her's in one scene to Sebastian.
--> '''Kathryn:''' It's all right for guys to fuck everyone... ...but when I do it, I get dumped for twits like Cecile. God forbid I exude confidence and enjoy sex. Do you think I relish acting like Mary Sunshine so I can be considered a lady? I'm the Marcia-fucking-Brady of the Upper East Side... ...and sometimes I want to kill myself. There's your psychoanalysis, Dr. Freud.
* HairOfGold: Annette
* HandsOnApproach: With a Cello.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** Sebastian, who's every bit as slimy as his stepsister at the beginning, just couldn't continue being such a jerk after Annette genuinely won his heart.
** [[spoiler: Potentially Kathryn, too, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism if you choose to be hopeful about her future]].]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:After Annette is pushed onto the road by Ronald during his and Sebastian's fight, Sebastian pushes her out of the way of an oncoming car and gets hit himself. He would succumb to the accident.]]
* InstantSeduction: Sebastian, apparently. In his first scene he tells a girl that she's beautiful, and the next we see him a few hours later he's already had sex with her.
* InvisibleParents: Sebastian and Kathryn's parents are only vaguely mentioned as being out of the country.
* KissingCousins / {{Twincest}}: The twins in the second movie claim to be KissingCousins, but were played by RealLife twins.
* LargeHam: Ronald. "THE BLACK MAN IS GONE! THE BLACK MAN IS GONE!"
** Some have accused Sarah Michelle Gellar of being this too.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Kathryn's downfall comes about from people whom she screwed over. Her secrets are exposed by the journal of Sebastian, which was copied by Annette and distributed to the student body by Cecile.]]
** Though [[Literature/DangerousLiaisons compared to her eighteenth-century counterpart]], she gets off light, all things considered.
* LeanAndMean: In the form of the rail-like Kathryn.
* LightIsNotGood: Kathryn can't seem to stop telling people how fortunate she is to be a part of the Roman Catholic faith. She speaks as if Jesus Christ is her greatest ally and even wears a rosary as a necklace in public. But despite all that she is an insufferable elitist, and manipulative, spiteful and cruel, and stashes cocaine inside a hollowed-out crucifix at the end of her rosary.
* LoveRedeems: Sebastian, sort of.
** LoveMakesYouEvil: On the other hand, [[spoiler: the last shot of the movie, (Annette driving Sebastian's car, wearing Sebastian's sunglasses, and smirking [[BookEnds like Sebastian did at the start of the movie]]) indicates that loving Sebastian may not have been all too good for Annette...]]
** The [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original ending]] was far less ambigious; in it, [[spoiler: Annette DOES become evil and, instead of publishing Sebastian's journal and expose Kathryn, uses the possibility of doing that to blackmail Kathryn into becoming her minion, who she plans on using to completely fuck around with the social order of her father's school.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Sebastian
* ManipulativeBitch: Kathryn, IN SPADES
* NoodleIncident: Cecile's mother about Sebastian: "I can't believe they didn't expel him after what he did to the school nurse."
* NotBloodSiblings: Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteul.
* PantyShot: Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair) sitting on the couch with her legs open, giving a view of white panties under her khaki short skirt, teasing while in an interview for a college entrance and acceptance.
* PetTheDog: A small moment for Kathryn, when she tells Cecile's mother that Cecile's been seeing Ronald. Kathryn isn't just surprised, but shocked, maybe even angry and upset, when Cecile's mother is angry over Ronald being black (Kathryn thought she would be upset over Ronald being "hired help"). She may be manipulative and play games with people's lives, but race doesn't seem to be an issue for her (further emphasized when [[spoiler: SHE later sleeps around with Ronald as part of her scheme.]])
** Sebastian deliberately goes for this when volunteering to help Annette work at the old people home, with humorous results.
* PopularIsDumb: Subverted as Kathryn and Sebastian are in fact pretty intelligent.
* PracticeKiss: In a LesYay example of this trope, this is proposed by ManipulativeBitch Kathryn to the innocent Cecile, who is worried about making a fool of herself when kissing her boyfriend for the first time. After the kiss Cecile is left breathless, and unconsciously leans forward for more as Kathryn pulls away.
* {{Prequel}}: ''Cruel Intentions 2''....[[InNameOnly sort of]] (It was [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot actually a pilot for a TV show]] that never happened.)
* ReallyGetsAround
* RedemptionEqualsDeath and DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler: Sebastian dies saving the girl he loves from a car crash and in death he owes up to his and his sisters' crimes through his journal that Annette gets published, which exposes their [[TitleDrop cruel intentions.]]]]
* SecretDiary
* SettingUpdate
* SinisterShades
* SmugSnake: Kathryn spirals into this toward the end. For much of the movie, she's very competant and successful at manipulation, but she ''really'' overreaches when she turns on Sebastian, whose assistance was a big contributor to her past success.
* SpitTrailKiss
* TeensAreMonsters
* ThereAreNoAdults: The few adults who do exist on rare occasions are clueless.
* TokenMinority: Ceciles' 'unsuitable' lover, Ronald. Kathryn was expecting Cecile's mother to be shocked at the idea of her daughter dating the "hired help". She's surprised when the mother is instead horrified because Ronald's ''black''.
** [[CaptainObvious In case you ever forget Ronald's black]], [[ViewersAreMorons the subject of his race comes up in every other scene]], such as his plans to write an opera based on Martin Luther King, and Kathryn riling him up to attack Sebastian by claiming Sebastian slept with Cecile.
* TooDumbToLive: Cecile.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Again, Cecile, who gets more bitchy and slutty as the film goes on, just as Kathryn had planned.
* {{Tsundere}}: Sebastian pretty much accuses Annette of being this at one point ("Hot one minute, cold the next")
* UnholyMatrimony: Sebastian and Kathryn's parents. When she tells him that her mother suspects his father of doing the maid he says excellent, while he calls her mother a gold digging whore.
* UnsuspectinglySoused: Becomes something of a running gag across the series.
* VillainousBreakdown: Kathryn at the end.
** Sebastian ''originally'' had one when Kathryn refuses to sleep with him even after he dumps Annette, going into a tearful, psychotic tirade and even hitting Kathryn. However, it was cut out because it lessened the feeling that Sebastian could truly be redeemed. Interestingly, Kathryn still tells Ronald that Sebastian hit her, [[WoundedGazelleGambit making it seem like a lie]] when it was originally meant to be true.
* [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]]
* VirginityFlag: [[spoiler:Annette]] suddenly wears dark clothes in contrast to her former pastel wardrobe. Sebastian also wears a bright blue shirt to symbolize that he has [[spoiler:fallen in love with her]].
* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Subverted with Annette, played straight with Cecile.
* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Ronald with Cecile and Kathryn.
* WickedCultured: Kathryn speaks Vietnamese, French and has sashimi as a midday snack. Sebastian rides, is an expert marksman and quite well read. He also drives a vintage Jaguar, which Kathryn covets.
** It would be more accurate to say the trope is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] or maybe [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]], since Kathryn (by her own admission) only ''pretends'' to be refined; [[SophisticatedAsHell in her private moments, she's quite the crass, foul-mouthed bitch]]. To a lesser extent, Sebastian, too, can be a bit of a lout.
* WomanScorned
