30 of the greatest femme fatales (2024)

You can't take your eyes off them — and you'd better not turn your back on them, either. Femme fatales have been compelling moviegoers since the silent era of cinema, and have taken many different shapes over the years. From classics like Barbara Stanwyck's murderous Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity to Sharon Stone's playful and dangerous Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct during the '90s erotic thriller boom to Robin Wright's power-hungry politician on Netflix's House of Cards, there's nothing quite like a devious dame.

Check out our list of femme fatales that continue to haunt our dreams, ahead.

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Catherine Tramell — Basic Instinct (1992)

A stereotypical male fantasy transformed into a nightmare: a bisexual nymphomaniac who might sleep with or kill you, played by Sharon Stone.

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Suzanne Stone Maretto — To Die For (1995)

Blind ambition meets blonde ambition. Suzanne (Nicole Kidman) wants fame at any cost — and she's just delusional enough to get it.

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Claire Underwood — House of Cards (2013–2018)

Behind every great man, there's a great woman (Robin Wright). And behind every Machiavellian power-monger politician, there's a partner just as nefarious. (With better hair, too.)

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Bridget Gregory — The Last Seduction (1994)

Beware of a woman in trouble. Manipulative and brilliant, Bridget (Linda Fiorentino) is a big New York City fish in a small-town pond.

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Jane Smith — Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

An assassin (Angelina Jolie) hunting her assassin husband (Brad Pitt), who never stood a chance.

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Nikita — La Femme Nikita (1997–2001)

A wrongfully accused innocent forced into a world of double-crossing agents and crisscrossing alliances. Nikita's (Peta Wilson) a tough trained superspy — and her greatest endurance challenge is how she holds onto her soul.

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Meredith Johnson — Disclosure (1994)

A lady boss who sexually harasses straight white men, Meredith (Demi Moore) is a post-feminist cartoon, but Moore makes her an enthralling antagonist.

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Amy Dunne — Gone Girl (2014)

What happens when the perfect metropolitan New Yorker cool-girl goes domestic? Spoiler: You wouldn't like her when she's angry. Played by Rosamund Pike.

Selina Kyle — Batman Returns (1992)

Witness the healing powers of the psychotic break, as a shy lonely assistant (Michelle Pfeiffer) gets reborn into a proud, unafraid, wild creature of the night.

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Selina Kyle — The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The Catwoman legend reimagined for the Recessionary era. Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle is an amoral streetwise antihero searching for a new beginning — by any means necessary.

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Mystique — the X-Men movies (2000–2019)

Covered in blue body paint, speaking only the bare minimum of dialogue, the model-turned-actress (Rebecca Romijn) gave the shape-changing mutant balletic grace. She's Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name with fewer clothes and fewer names.

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Sil — Species (1995)

Sil (Natasha Henstridge) positively demands going all the way on the first date. in this case, "all the way" means "give birth immediately to an alien-human-hybrid monster."

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Lara Croft — the Lara Croft movies (2001–2003)

Indiana Jones in skintight short shorts. Only Jolie could bring the bodacious videogame adventurer to life.

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Gemma Teller Morrow — Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014)

Lady Macbeth was a no-talent rookie compared to Queen Gemma (Katey Sagal). She'll do anything for her family — and anything to her family.

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Ginger Knowles — Swordfish (2001)

The perfect vehicle for Halle Berry's sultry-sweet charisma, Ginger's less femme fatale than femme mystérieuse. That smirk could be deadly.

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Lucinda Harris — Derailed (2005)

Successful, married, beautiful — and bored. Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) is a tantalizing siren for a man looking for excitement.

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Kathryn Merteuil — Cruel Intentions (1999)

Before Mean Girls, she was the meanest girl. Sarah Michelle Gellar's prep-school puppet master is villainous on a Biblical level. Literally: She keeps cocaine in her crucifix!

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Cersei Lannister — Game of Thrones (2011–2019)

Men are such boys. Westeros needs a good, firm hand. Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is a Queen.

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Xenia Onatopp — GoldenEye (1995)

A Soviet agent (Famke Janssen) running rampant through the post-Cold War superspy private sector. James Bond's met so many women, but how many of them literally have killer thighs?

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Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore — The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

An amnesiac small-town schoolteacher (Geena Davis) finds out she's got a mysterious espionage past. She's Jason Bourne for desperate housewives.

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The Bride — the Kill Bill movies (2003–2004)

Left for dead on her wedding day — shot by her unborn baby's dad! — the blood-splattered Bride (Uma Thurman) awakes seeking vengeance. Just your average cowboy samurai assassin.

22of 30

Sarah Walker — Chuck (2007–2012)

Every nerd's dream: a badass secret agent (Yvonne Strahovski) with a heart of gold. The central joke of Chuck is that the title should actually be Sarah.

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Lynn Bracken — L.A. Confidential (1997)

A sex worker cut to look like Veronica Lake, Lynn (Kim Basinger) is the femme fatale gone meta: an alluring Hollywood dreamgirl who dreams of a regular, old-fashioned private life.

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Saffron — Firefly (2002)

An oft-married con woman with the power to seduce the whole solar system. A defining role for pre-Mad Men Christina Hendricks, who plays Saffron like a chameleon. She's whatever you want — and you'll do whatever she desires.

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Aeon Flux — Aeon Flux (2005)

Because every totalitarian postapocalyptic dystopia needs at least one gun-totin', jump-kickin', rebel acrobat (Charlize Theron).

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Phyllis Dietrichson — Double Indemnity (1944)

One of the most iconic femme fatales in film history, Phyllis (played with cool perfection by Barbara Stanwyck) persuades an insurance agent to murder her husband for the life insurance — and tries her damndest to get away with it.

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Ellen Berent Harland — Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Ellen Berent Harland (Gene Tierney) is another classic femme fatale whose obsessive love for her new husband leads to murderous consequences for anyone who gets in the way.

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Lorraine Broughton — Atomic Blonde (2017)

Charlize Theron portrays an icy cool spy with a lethal touch as she hunts down a list of double agents in this sleek action thriller.

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Dorothy Vallens — Blue Velvet (1986)

Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) exists in an abusive environment in this violent film noir, but don't be fooled — she also has a kind of agency as she draws naive Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) into her web.

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Cassie Thomas — Promising Young Woman (2020)

Carey Mulligan plays a woman out for revenge against the people she deems responsible for her best friend's suicide in this incendiary thriller.