HBO's Steamy 6-Part Period Drama Is the Perfect Next Binge

Emerald Fennell's polarizing adaptation of Wuthering Heights may stray from the classic, but it succeeds in unfiltered eroticism, with sexual tension driving much of the film. If that left you breathless, HBO's The Seduction offers a similarly intense fix: heat, intrigue, and power plays among 18th-century aristocrats.

The Seduction is a loose take on Les Liaisons Dangereuses that invents an origin for the Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Anamaria Vartolomei). As a naive convent girl she falls for Sébastien de Valmont (Vincent Lacoste) and is duped into marriage to claim her virginity.

Scorned, she learns the art of seduction from Valmont's aunt Rosemonde (Diane Kruger), fails to sway the libertine Comte de Gercourt (Lucas Bravo), then secures a loveless, wealthy match that places her among the elite—an arc framed as equal parts survival and calculated resourcefulness.

the seduction, emerald fennell, wuthering heights, les liaisons, anamaria vartolomei, vincent lacoste, diane kruger, lucas bravo, 18th-century, seduction