The 1980s get a lot of credit, as a decade, for perfecting the teenage movie genre. So much of that goes to the work of John Hughes, who delivered such iconic entries to the teen pool as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But don’t sleep on the decade that followed, the 1990s, because a healthy share of memorable teen movies are beloved by a generation and considered classics. Roger Kumble’s Cruel Intentions absolutely falls into that realm, with the soapy drama capturing the hearts of naughty teens who subscribed to Drama, with a capital D, in their drama. Cruel Intentions co-star Selma Blair tapped into the movie’s heat recently when she posted this photo on Instagram, which featured a look at her character, Cecile. All it took was hair clips to recapture that magic.
First off, Selma Blair is 48, and looks like she just stepped off the set of Cruel Intentions, which was released in theatres in 1999. That’s amazing. Secondly, it’s wild how a simple alteration to an actress’s hair can instantly call to mind the look that they achieved for a character in a popular film. It’d be like Alicia Silverstone wore that yellow, plaid blazer that she made famous in Clueless. Oh wait, she did that for Halloween in 2017.
Anyway, back to Selma Blair, whose Instagram post immediately started to draw out her Cruel Intentions family, which was delightful. The amazing Sarah Michelle Gellar chimed in with a very on brand reference:
This joke points to the scene where Gellar’s manipulative character, Kathryn, is tricking Cecile into sleeping with as many men as possible, telling her there’s a “secret society” of people who make love but don’t talk about it. Not one to be outdone Cruel Intentions director also made his own joke that will make fans of the film very happy.
Brace yourself for this math: Cruel Intentions celebrated its 20th anniversary two years ago, and is fast approaching its milestone 25th anniversary. That’s going to make all of the teenagers who treated the drama like a guilty pleasure feel super old. There’s only one way to properly celebrate it, however. Pop the movie on a revel in its sinister cheesiness. There’s no denying that Cruel Intentions had one of the most impressive young casts of a 1990s teen movie. In addition to the aforementioned Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair, the movie featured Reese WItherspoon, Ryan Phillippe, Joshua Jackson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Swoozie Kurtz, Tara Reid and Christine Baranski. It’s a delight, from top to bottom.
Where do you rank Cruel Intentions on your 1990s teen movie list? Has it been a while since you last saw it? No matter how long it has been, I can guarantee you that the photo posted by Selma Blair took you right back to the first time you watched it. You probably even heard “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by The Verve playing in your head automatically. It was a ’90s thing.
