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Spoilers for the released 1999 film. Sebastian technically wins the bet: he seduces Annette. But Kathryn gets the victory she really wants at first—proof that she can still control him—and then loses her standing when Sebastian’s journal exposes her schemes. The ending makes the wager less a simple contest than a struggle over who can hurt whom.
Does Sebastian win the bet?
By the wager’s literal condition, yes. Sebastian succeeds in seducing Annette. But the bet changes meaning once he falls in love with her. Kathryn’s deeper aim is to show that she still has power over Sebastian and can make him sacrifice the relationship. When he tells her he has fulfilled the wager, she rejects him rather than deliver the promised reward.
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![Cruel Intentions [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516OaGdrm4L._SL160_.jpg)
So the film does not present a clean, formally settled prize or an uncomplicated winner. Sebastian meets the sexual condition; Kathryn initially wins the emotional power struggle. The journal’s later exposure of Kathryn turns that apparent victory into a public defeat.
Why does Kathryn reject Sebastian?
Kathryn pressures Sebastian to treat his feelings for Annette as irrelevant and warns that admitting the wager would ruin them. Sebastian lies to Annette, saying he only wanted sex, and she leaves. The lie damages the relationship he has come to value. When Sebastian reports his success to Kathryn, she makes clear that controlling his attachment mattered more to her than the bet’s promised reward.
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- family, deceit, sex, drugs, cars, manipulation
Sebastian then tries to reach Annette and sends her his journal as evidence of the truth. The plot account says she initially refuses to see him. The journal becomes important not as a way to undo the harm, but as a record that will later reveal Kathryn’s manipulation.
Does Sebastian die at the end?
Yes. Kathryn tells Ronald that Sebastian hurt her and slept with Cecile. Ronald confronts Sebastian, and during their fight Sebastian sees Annette and runs across the street. A taxi strikes him; according to the plot account, he pushes Annette out of danger. He and Annette confess their love before he dies.
Rank #2
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- Cruel Intentions / Cruel Intentions 2 / Cruel Intentions 3
- Cruel Intentions / Cruel Intentions 2 / Cruel Intentions 3
The timing prevents the story from resolving as a conventional romance. Sebastian has turned toward honesty, but that choice comes after he has hurt Annette, and his death leaves no chance to repair their relationship over time.
What happens to Kathryn at the funeral?
At Sebastian’s funeral, Kathryn presents herself as someone who tried to reform him. Cecile distributes copies of Sebastian’s journal, exposing Kathryn’s lies and schemes to their school community. The students begin to leave, and Kathryn’s carefully managed reputation collapses.
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This reverses the apparent result of the wager. Kathryn had succeeded in making Sebastian’s love for Annette a source of pain, but she cannot control what his journal reveals after his death.
Why is Annette driving Sebastian’s car?
The closing image shows Annette driving Sebastian’s car, wearing his sunglasses, with his journal beside her. It can be read as an expression of grief and continuing attachment, as well as a sign that she carries his account of Kathryn’s conduct into public view. The image does not establish that Annette forgives Sebastian or explain who legally owns the car; it leaves her with his memory and the consequences of what he did.
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Is the ending a redemption story?
Roger Kumble, the film’s writer-director, described the intended ending as “a tale of redemption and love” in a 20th-anniversary interview with TheWrap published March 5, 2019. That framing supports reading Sebastian’s attempt to tell the truth and give Annette his journal as a turn toward accountability. It does not mean he has repaired the damage he caused: Annette is left grieving, and Sebastian dies before he can make amends.
The film adapts Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, moving its seduction and social maneuvering into a wealthy Manhattan high-school setting. Here, the journal turns private manipulation into public consequence. The released film’s closing sequence is also associated with “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” discussed by Kumble in TheWrap interview.
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- Cruel Intentions / Cruel Intentions 2 / Cruel Intentions 3
- Cruel Intentions / Cruel Intentions 2 / Cruel Intentions 3
Released-film ending versus screenplay draft
An available Roger Kumble screenplay draft hosted by CEMP has a materially different final stretch: Annette confronts Kathryn directly before the funeral sequence, takes Sebastian’s Porsche, and drives away to The Carpenters’ “Goodbye to Love.” That draft is evidence of a screenplay version, not a definitive transcript of the released cut. The released-film plot account instead describes Cecile distributing journal copies at the funeral, followed by Annette’s highway drive in Sebastian’s car.
The draft includes Sebastian’s voice-over, “Well, it finally backfired. I succeeded in hurting the first person I loved.” Treat that as screenplay text, not verified dialogue from the familiar released-film finale.
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