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  1. Home
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  3. 25 of the greatest femme fatales

25 of the greatest femme fatales

EW lists the best femme fatales who will haunt your dreams.

By EW Staff April 04, 2016 at 12:45 PM EDT
Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.
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25 of the greatest femme fatales

25 of the Greatest Femme Fatales
Credit: David Giesbrecht/Netflix; Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; Stephen Vaughn; Ron Phillips/Warner Bros.; TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collections

You can't take your eyes off them—and you'd better not turn your back on them. These devious dames will haunt your dreams, ahead.

Want more?: This gallery is an excerpt from EW's book, The Must List: Ranking the Best in 25 Years of Pop Culture, which is in stores and available for order online.

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Catherine Tramell, Basic Instinct (Sharon Stone)

8. Catherine Tramell

A 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 (Nicole Kidman)

Suzanne Stone Maretto, To Die For (Nicole Kidman)
Credit: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

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 (Robin Wright)

Robin Wright, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, House of Cards (Netflix)
Credit: David Giesbrecht/Netflix

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 (Linda Fiorentino)

Bridget Gregory, The Last Seduction (Linda Fiorentino)
Credit: October Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

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. and Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie)

2. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 2005
Credit: Stephen Vaughn

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

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Nikita, La Femme Nikita (Peta Wilson)

Nikita, La Femme Nikita (Peta Wilson)
Credit: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

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 (Demi Moore)

Meredith Johnson, Disclosure (Demi Moore)
Credit: Brian Hamill

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

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Amy Dunne, Gone Girl (Rosamund Pike)

Amy Dunne, Gone Girl (Rosamund Pike)
Credit: Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox

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.

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Selina Kyle, Batman Returns (Michelle Pfeiffer)

Selina Kyle, Batman Returns (Michelle Pfeiffer)
Credit: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

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

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Selina Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises (Anne Hathaway)

Selina Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises (Anne Hathaway)
Credit: Ron Phillips/Warner Bros.

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

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Mystique, X-Men (Rebecca Romijn)

Mystique, X-Men (Rebecca Romijn)
Credit: 20th Century Fox/ Everett Collection

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 Eastwood's Man With No Name with less clothes and fewer names.

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Sil, Species (Natasha Henstridge)

Sil, Species (Natasha Henstridge)
Credit: MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection

She (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 (Angelina Jolie)

Lara Croft, The Lara Croft Movies (Angelina Jolie)
Credit: Alex Bailey/Paramount Pictures

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

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Gemma Teller Morrow, Sons of Anarchy (Katey Sagal)

Gemma Teller Morrow, Sons of Anarchy (Katey Sagal)
Credit: Prashant Gupta/FX

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 (Halle Berry)

Ginger Knowles, Swordfish (Halle Berry)
Credit: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

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

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Lucinda Harris, Derailed (Jennifer Aniston)

Lucinda Harris, Derailed (Jennifer Aniston)
Credit: Chuck Hodes/The Weinstein Company

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

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Kathryn Merteuil, Cruel Intentions (Sarah Michelle Gellar)

Kathryn Merteuil, Cruel Intentions (Sarah Michelle Gellar)
Credit: Melissa Moseley

Before Mean Girls, she was the meanest girl. 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 (Lena Headey)

Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones (Lena Headey)
Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

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

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Xenia Onatopp, GoldenEye (Famke Janssen)

Xenia Onatopp, GoldenEye (Famke Janssen)

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 (Geena Davis)

Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore, The Long Kiss Goodnight (Geena Davis)
Credit: New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection

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, Kill Bill (Uma Thurman)

Kill Bill (2003–2004)
Credit: Andrew Cooper/Miramax

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.

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Sarah Walker, Chuck (Yvonne Strahovski)

Sarah Walker, Chuck (Yvonne Strahovski)
Credit: Jordin Althaus/NBC

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 (Kim Basinger)

Lynn Bracken, L.A. Confidential (Kim Basinger)
Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection

A hooker 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 normal life.

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Saffron, Firefly (Christina Hendricks)

Saffron, Firefly (Christina Hendricks)
Credit: FOX

An oft-married con lady with the power to seduce the whole solar system. A defining role for pre-Mad Men 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 (Charlize Theron)

Aeon Flux, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron)
Credit: Paramount Pictures

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

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    1 of 26 25 of the greatest femme fatales
    2 of 26 Catherine Tramell, Basic Instinct (Sharon Stone)
    3 of 26 Suzanne Stone Maretto, To Die For (Nicole Kidman)
    4 of 26 Claire Underwood, House of Cards (Robin Wright)
    5 of 26 Bridget Gregory, The Last Seduction (Linda Fiorentino)
    6 of 26 Jane Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie)
    7 of 26 Nikita, La Femme Nikita (Peta Wilson)
    8 of 26 Meredith Johnson, Disclosure (Demi Moore)
    9 of 26 Amy Dunne, Gone Girl (Rosamund Pike)
    10 of 26 Selina Kyle, Batman Returns (Michelle Pfeiffer)
    11 of 26 Selina Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises (Anne Hathaway)
    12 of 26 Mystique, X-Men (Rebecca Romijn)
    13 of 26 Sil, Species (Natasha Henstridge)
    14 of 26 Lara Croft, The Lara Croft Movies (Angelina Jolie)
    15 of 26 Gemma Teller Morrow, Sons of Anarchy (Katey Sagal)
    16 of 26 Ginger Knowles, Swordfish (Halle Berry)
    17 of 26 Lucinda Harris, Derailed (Jennifer Aniston)
    18 of 26 Kathryn Merteuil, Cruel Intentions (Sarah Michelle Gellar)
    19 of 26 Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones (Lena Headey)
    20 of 26 Xenia Onatopp, GoldenEye (Famke Janssen)
    21 of 26 Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore, The Long Kiss Goodnight (Geena Davis)
    22 of 26 The Bride, Kill Bill (Uma Thurman)
    23 of 26 Sarah Walker, Chuck (Yvonne Strahovski)
    24 of 26 Lynn Bracken, L.A. Confidential (Kim Basinger)
    25 of 26 Saffron, Firefly (Christina Hendricks)
    26 of 26 Aeon Flux, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron)

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