Cruel Intentions 2

Right now you can watch Cruel Intentions 2 in Australia on Netflix, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. 439 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Robin Dunne leads a cast that never overplays its hand. Start it on Netflix whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

There is a reason Cruel Intentions 2 keeps coming up in conversation. Cruel Intentions 2 trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. After his precocious behavior has gotten him bounced out of one more in a string of exclusive private schools, 16-year old Sebastian Valmont has arrived in New York City to live with his father and stepmother. The cunning and handsome Sebastian may have met his match, however, in his equally manipulative and beautiful stepsister Kathryn Merteuil. Robin Dunne and Sarah Thompson lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2000. What elevates Cruel Intentions 2 is a refusal to let any character off the hook too easily. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with Cruel Intentions 2. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Robin Dunne's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.