The 1999 film Cruel Intentions has become a classic among today's teenagers, with numerous moments that have been labeled iconic. The film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kathryn Merteuil, a character who is not as welcoming as she claims to be. Kathryn's unending deception is hinted at in one of the first scenes of the movie, where she takes a bump of coke after entertaining Selma Blair's innocent character, Cecile. Kathryn unscrews the top of a cross dangling from a pearled rosary and brings it to her nose to conceal the illicit substance. Although this surreptitious way of concealing the drug ultimately leads to her downfall, the cross has had an afterlife all its own, inspiring numerous copycats that are still sold on Etsy.
The prop was designed by Lynda Reiss, who also worked on other famous movies, including American Beauty and True Detective. She had no idea that Kathryn's rosary would stick around in the cultural imagination. "It's funny what people go crazy about. It makes me laugh all the time," Reiss says over the phone. "It's very cool to be the person who designed something that is the thing that people still talk about 20 years later."
The enduring love for Kathryn's cross speaks to how deeply nostalgic the item is, especially as a touchstone for Gen X, evoking the golden year of teen movies. The film remains a generational touchstone, with moments such as the famous kiss between Gellar and Blair, the shot of Ryan Phillippe's butt near the pool, and "Bitter Sweet Symphony" playing over the dramatic finale, where Kathryn's cocaine problem is broadcast to the whole school. The cultural impact of Cruel Intentions is still evident today, and the cross remains an important part of the film's legacy.