Annette (Reese Witherspoon) unwittingly becomes a pawn in Sebastian’s (Ryan Phillippe) and Kathryn’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) deliciously diabolical wager of sexual conquest when she writes an article in Seventeen Magazine about how she intends to stay pure until she marries her boyfriend. However, Sebastian gets more than he bargained for as he attempts to woo Annette into his bed.

“Cruel Intentions” is a modern-day version of “Dangerous Liaisons,” with rich kids in a prep school playing roles that were written for jaded French aristocrats in the wicked 1782 novel by Choderlos De Laclos. He created a world of depraved amorality, in which the only goal was to indulge one’s selfishness.