Femme fatale literally translates from French into "lethal woman." This stock character type uses her sexual prowess to woo, deceive, and ensnare those around her. Femme fatales have appeared in films since cinema's earliest days, ready to seduce both other characters and audiences alike.

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This archetype has led to some very problematic portrayals of female characters on screen, characters whose dynamic qualities are given over to one-dimensional, intensely sexual motivations. Films that uphold this stereotype rarely give femme fatales the same depth and nuance as their male counterparts. Fortunately, more films are challenging this stereotype and taking femme fatales into new, challenging, and exciting territory.

Uphold: Original Sin (2001)

Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas sharing a bath in Original Sin

Set in 19th century Spain, Original Sin is an erotic thriller starring Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie. Jolie plays Julie, a mail-order bride from Delaware who arrives in Spain to marry Banderas's character Luis.

After a few suggestive sex scenes, Julia absconds with Luis's fortune, and they engage in a convoluted cat-and-mouse game that lacks any substance. Julie is characterized as a one-dimensional, promiscuous con artist who is ultimately "tamed" by Luis.

Subvert: Foxy Brown (1974)

A close-up of Pam Grier as Foxy Brown

Foxy Brown sees actor Pam Grier at her best as the relentless titular heroine who fearlessly pursues the criminals responsible for assassinating her boyfriend. Jack Hill's influential blaxploitation thriller toys with concepts like feminity, Black power, and sexuality.

Because of this, responses to Foxy Brown have been mixed. While some critics take issue with Grier's issues to bear it all during the film, others see her portrayal of Brown as centered around the concept that women can do whatever they want, and by whatever means necessary, to challenge the men around them.

Uphold: Double Indemnity (1944)

Phylis and Walter at a store in Double Indemnity

Billy Wilder's stunning film noir Double Indemnity is a taut masterpiece, yet one that relies heavily upon classic femme fatale tropes. Barbara Stanwyck plays Phyllis Dietrichson, a conniving housewife who lures a love-struck insurance salesman into a plot to kill her husband.

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Fred MacMurray co-stars as the insurance agent, Walter Neff, who agrees to assist Phyllis, only to discover she's plotting against him as well. There's no agency or backstory for Phyllis; instead, she's simply a lascivious killer who ruins the lives of the men around her.

Subvert: Promising Young Woman (2020)

Casie drinking out of a straw while reading a book

A revenge thriller, Promising Young Woman takes both visual cues and plot developments from femme fatale films and flips them on their heads. Carey Mulligan gives an engrossing performance in the film as Cassie Thomas, a 30-year-old haunted by the sexual assault that ruined her best friend's life while they were in medical school together.

Cassie plans to retaliate against the assailant, who she discovers is getting married, by posing as a stripper at his bachelor party. Promising Young Woman confronts misogyny and victim-blaming head-on, undermining audience expectations about thrillers to deliver one gut punch after another.

Uphold: Fatal Attraction (1987)

Glenn Close's character distraught on the floor in Fatal Attraction

In Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close's character Alex has a weekend affair with a married man, Michael Douglas's Dan. Alex isn't able to handle the transient nature of their romance, and her growing obsession with Dan quickly evolves into violence.

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Close plays into Alex's status as an unhinged femme fatale whose reactions to Dan's quick dismissal of their interactions become overblown and toxic. While it may be stylized and well-acted, Fatal Attraction suffers from the fatal flaw denying Alex the same nuance awarded to the object of her affection in the film.

Subvert: Kill Bill, Vols. 1 & 2 (2003 - 2004)

Kill Bill Uma Thurman

In Kill Bill, Uma Thurman's The Bride is out for blood. This well-rounded and developed revenge-seeking warrior is a far cry from some of the noir femme fatales who likely inspired director Quentin Tarantino when working on this film series.

Tarantino's iconic female heroine strives to slay every member of her former assassin squad, especially their leader and her former paramour Bill (David Carradine). Playing into the archetype of the scorned woman, Thurman reshapes her character's journey into a survivor's tale, one replete with dynamism, emotion, and urgency.

Uphold: Human Desire (1954)

Vicki and Jeff embracing on a train in Human Desire

Fritz Lang's classic noir Human Desire is a fatalistic drama about train yard workers and engineers whose lives collide with terrifying consequences. Gloria Grahame plays the seductress caught up in the middle of all the action, a beautiful woman whose inner qualities possess no value in the male-dominated world around her.

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Grahame's character as Vicki Buckley is stuck between her abusive husband, her prurient boss, and the new lover (Glenn Ford) who blames her for being victimized. By the film's tragic end, it's clear Vicki is nothing more than an object with a rapidly arriving expiration date.

Subvert: Gone Girl (2014)

Amy Dunne looking back in Gone Girl

There are so many layers to Rosamunde Pike's performance as Amy Elliott Dunne in David Fincher's Gone Girl. Amy's privilege grants her the time and money to fake her own disappearance as an act of retribution against her cheating husband Nick (Ben Affleck), spending months ruminating over every detail to maximize the effects of her vanishing.

While Gone Girl's dualistic plot reinforces cliches about double-crossed women, it also undermines them with Pike's ability to hint at all the depth within Amy. Without Pike's performance, the jam-packed Gone Gone would be mostly forgettable.

Uphold: Gun Crazy (1949)

A close-up of couple Annie and Bart in Gun Crazy

Before Bonnie and Clyde, there was Bart and Annie in Joseph H. Lewis's crime-filled noir Gun Crazy. This pair of gun-obsessed lovers meet while performing for a traveling circus; they decide to hit the road and make money by holding up banks.

In the film, it's the rotten Annie who pushes Bart toward bigger and bigger heists; it's also Annie who finally pulls the trigger and turns their money-making enterprise into a murder spree. Annie lacks any dimension beyond her compulsory desire to break the law, while Bart receives a back story, a family, and complexity.

Subvert: Widows (2018)

The female heisters in Widows having a meeting together while wearing black tactical gear

Steve McQueen's Widows is a heist film that disrupts multiple tropes, from the male-dominated action flick to the deceitful femme fatale. The group of women at the center of the film band together to steal $5 million from a local politician to repay the crime boss whose money was stolen by their partners -- all of whom died in a botched getaway.

This girl gang is composed of dynamic characters brought to life by Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Cynthia Erivo. Instead of greed, they are motivated by camaraderie, self-sufficiency, and mutual respect.

NEXT: Jessica Rabbit & 9 Other Memorable Movie Femme Fatales