Theme: Femme Fatales

The femme fatale (French for ‘fatal woman’) is an impossibly beautiful and desirable woman whose allure proves deadly for any male who befalls her temptations. The archetype began on the screen in the silent era and gained a popularity in 1940s Film Noir.

There have been a number of genre variants from the immortal queens of various versions of She (1887) and L’Atlantide (1919) to various sirens and supernatural creatures. In the 1990s, a whole body of erotic thrillers derived from Basic Instinct (1992) were awash with sizzling and deadly femme fatales.