David Fincher is one of those directors who has established a reputation for creating visually stylish and narratively compelling films, full of broken male characters that struggle to take some form of control over their lives and their fortunes (often with very mixed success).
While his films and television series mostly focus on masculinity and its various crises, it should be noted that he has also brought quite a few compelling (and often very strong) female characters to the big and the small screen, all of whom deserve appreciation for standing up to the men in their lives.
Tracy Mills - Se7en
Se7en is a very disturbing film. How else would one describe a film with a murderer who goes after people because of the sins that he believes they have committed?
Tracy Mills is, to be fair, one of the weaker characters that appears in Fincher films and, unfortunately, she ends up murdered, making her really nothing more than a slight plot point, rather than a character with much depth or agency of her own.
Meg Altman - Panic Room
Meg Altman, the main character of Panic Room, is a bit of a contradictory character. While she’s played by the inimitable Jodie Foster -- well-known for her ability to play very strong female characters -- she’s not a particularly strong character in this film.
She seems to be dominated by the trauma of the past, and there comes a point in the film where she seems to be little more than a glorified damsel in distress. She does have a few moments, however, where she does show some strength.
Marla - Fight Club
Anyone who’s seen the film Fight Club knows that the primary focus is on the character of the narrator and his alter-ego, Tyler Durden. However, it has to be said that Marla is a pretty formidable personality in her own right.
She proves time and again that she isn’t going to put up with his nonsense, even if one does have to question whether her judgment is all that great, considering the fact that she does get into a relationship with a man who’s more than a little unstable.
Daisy Fuller - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Cate Blanchett is one of those actresses who succeeds no matter what she appears in, and she frequently plays powerful women (including, most notably, Galadriel and Queen Elizabeth I).
In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, she plays the character of Daisy, who has a lot of love for the titular character. However, just because she loves him doesn’t mean that she is going to sacrifice her own happiness for him, and that makes her a very admirable character indeed.
Zoe Barnes - House Of Cards
The tragedy of the character of Zoe Barnes is that she seemed to have a great deal of potential. She is, after all, a journalist who’s determined to get her story, no matter what. And, let’s be real, it’s not every young woman who would be brave enough to go up against a monster like Frank Underwood.
Even though this ultimately leads to her terrible and bloody demise, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t deserve respect for being a powerful female character.
Amy Dunne - Gone Girl
Amy Dunne from Gone Girl is one of the most villainous characters to appear in a Fincher film. How else can one describe a woman who goes to elaborate lengths to make sure that her husband takes the fall for her own staged murder?
One can’t help but admire the sheer gall of such an effort, and the fact that she succeeds in bringing him back to her is even more evidence that she is one of the most fascinatingly nuanced and compelling of Fincher’s female creations.
Lisbeth Salander - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The computer hacker is a very common figure in a particular type of film, and Lisbeth Salander of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fits into a number of the stereotypes of this character, except for the fact that she is obviously female.
This makes her a truly exemplary sort of character, and she certainly isn’t willing to take nonsense from anyone. One can’t help but admire the type of agency that she wields throughout the film.
Sonnie - Love, Death & Robots
There’s much to love about the show Love, Death & Robots. Though a host of characters appear during the course of the show, one that really stands out is Sonnie.
She’s a brutal sort of character, a fighter who’s willing to do almost anything in order to score a victory in the fighting ring. One can’t help but admire her for her ability to survive in a world without room for any kind of softness.
Claire Underwood - House Of Cards
From the moment that Claire Underwood appeared on-screen with her husband Frank, she made it quite clear that she wasn’t a woman to be trifled with.
She radiates power, first as the leader of her nonprofit, and then as her husband’s partner in political crime. In some ways, she’s even more powerful than he is, for she’s not the type to let anything get in her way, not even Frank himself. Claire is one of the best characters to ever appear in a political television show.
Ellen Ripley - Alien
Ellen Ripley is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic and recognizable figures in the history of science fiction film. How could it be otherwise, when she’s played by the incomparable Sigourney Weaver?
While this film does a bit of an injustice to her by killing her off in the end, it’s still a noble sacrifice on her part and a reminder that she truly is the type of sci-fi hero that is looked up to and admired by fans everywhere.