The 36 Best Female Villains in Film

Female villains across film and TV often have three things in common: a killer wardrobe, a dramatic beauty look, and an arsenal of memorable one-liners that help to ensure the spotlight remains firmly on them. Little wonder, then, that Hollywood’s hottest stars have long been lining up to play the most amoral characters in cinema.

First there are the comic book and Marvel bad girls, like Suicide Squad’s Harley Quinn. Just because they’re bad on the inside, doesn’t mean they can’t be glamorous on the outside—think Angelina Jolie in Disney’s Maleficent, with her signature blood-red pout. Next come the seductresses and killers, like Sharon Stone as the manipulative Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct or Jodie Comer’s well-dressed assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve.

Then there’s another category: the conflicted villainess. These women can’t quite decide which side they’re on, and will occasionally use their powers for good—especially if there’s something in it for them. Here, Vogue revisits some of the best portrayals of female villains in Hollywood history.