The femme fatale is never more fatal than in sci-fi
The femme fatale has been one of film’s most fascinating archetypes since the earliest days of the medium. Sexy, self-assured, and quite often murderous, she seduces and destroys with abandon. Her behavior is heightened to such a degree that real-life women would never be able to get away with, and she always knows how to use her powers.
While femme fatales might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to sci-fi, the genre (so often thought of as the province of nerdy men) allows her to become even more powerful. In sci-fi, the femme fatale can take the form of an alien or a robot or some other kind of fantasy being. The femme fatale-ness and otherworldliness enhance one another, increasing her evil abilities beyond what they would be in a film noir or erotic thriller. Sure, Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnityand Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (to name just two iconic examples) were femme fatales, but could they shapeshift and channel the supernatural? Not quite.
We’ve gathered some of our favorite sci-fi femme fatales — all of them mythical creatures who get away with villainous behavior and look cool while doing it.
By design, it’s hard to definitively say who’s good and who’s evil in Ridley Scott’s stylish dystopian classic, but with her ass-kicking abilities and unforgettable character design, Pris makes for a dynamic (and robotic) femme fatale. A “basic pleasure model” Replicant who rebels, Pris is a punk in black mesh and dramatic makeup (including a killer streak of black across her eyes) who has incredible endurance and physicality and defies all expectations for a sex robot by refusing to go down without a fight.
Designed by a wildly wealthy tech bro and living in seclusion, Ava is an android with a
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