If there’s one thing that makes a great movie stand out, it’s a great villain. While a healthy chunk of the great villains we’ve seen in movies over the years have been played by men, there are others every bit as iconic that have been played by women. From manipulative high school bullies, abusive mothers, to racist socialites, these characters had audiences overwhelmed with rage anytime they appeared on screen. In most cases, the movies these characters appeared in would probably be nowhere near as good without their evil presence being a part of them. It’s about that time again as Konscious Kurt is about to break down his 10 Favorite Female Movie Villains:
10. Sarah Marshall – Forgetting Sarah Marshall
2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall sees music composer Peter Bretter have his heart broken when his girlfriend and TV star Sarah Marshall suddenly breaks up with him. As he goes on a vacation to Hawaii to try and get over her, that plan quickly fails as he ends up at the same hotel as Sarah along with her new boyfriend. Despite being the one who ended the relationship, the combination of her TV show being cancelled, her new boyfriend not being who she thought he was, and seeing Peter hit it off with the hotel’s concierge starts to make Sarah jealous. While she does garner some sympathy when she opens up about the reasons why she broke up with Peter, the fact that she cheated on him for a year prior to the breakup and then later tried to get back with him when her new relationship fizzled out ruined any sympathy people had for her. Kristen Bell’s performance as Sarah Marshall showed that while the character may not have started out as a villain, she clearly was one by the time the movie was over.
9. Cruella de Vil – 101 Dalmatians
101 Dalmatians is one of those early classic Disney movies that’s hard for anyone from any generation to forget. While the Dalmatians are a big reason why it’s so remembered, what the movie is also famous for is its villain Cruella de Vil. An entitled socialite, Cruella attempts to buy all the Dalmatians from a married couple who make it clear to her that they’re not for sale. Refusing to take no for an answer, she hires two burglars to kidnap the Dalmatians so that she could have them turned them into fur coats. Through all its different incarnations including being played by Glen Close in the 1996 live action movie, the Cruella character has proved to be an iconic one that displays how harming animals is a different level of evil.
8. Meredith Johnson – Disclosure
In Disclosure, Michael Douglas plays a Manufacturing chief named Tom Sanders who gets passed over for a CEO position in favor of his ex-girlfriend Meredith Johnson. After calling him into her office one night, Meredith seduces Tom despite him constantly telling her to stop and then threatens him once he escapes. Tom then comes to find out the next day that Meredith’s suing him for sexual harassment, causing a strain in his marriage and ruining his reputation at work. After receiving an anonymous e-mail directing him to a sexual assault attorney, Tom then sues their company and turns the sexual harassment accusations back at Meredith. Played by Demi Moore, Meredith Johnson was one of the rare cases of a female boss taking advantage of a male employee and attempting to cover it up.
7. LaVona Golden – I, Tonya
I, Tonya is based on the true story of figure skater Tonya Harding and her involvement in the 1994 attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan. As the story dives deep into Tonya’s upbringing, it’s revealed that she had a rough childhood due to the abuse she suffered from her mother LeVona Golden. From verbal abuse, pushing Tonya’s father out of the picture, to intense physical abuse that even saw her one time throw a knife at Tonya, LeVona makes her daughter’s childhood a living hell. Showing how low she was willing to go, LeVona visits Tonya in her later years and oddly acts like a loving mother only for it to be revealed that she’s wearing a wire to get Tonya to admit to the Kerrigan attack. Allison Janney strong portrayal as LeVona Golden earned much high praise as it won her the movie’s lone Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
6. Regina George – Mean Girls
Hitting theaters in 2004, Mean Girls tells the story of teenager Cady Heron moving to America after being homeschooled in Africa her whole life. Once she starts high school, she’s befriended by the mean popular girls known as the Plastics. The leader of the pack and worst of them all, Regina George brings a whole new definition to the term “mean girl.” From using her manipulation tactics to screw with the lives of other students, teachers, and even her own friends (Cady included), there’s no line Regina isn’t willing to cross for her own amusement. Played by Rachel McAdams, the Regina character has become one of the defining teen movie villains and one that many a teenager has come across in their real-life high school experiences.
5. Alex Forrest – Fatal Attraction
1987’s Fatal Attraction stars Michael Douglas as an attorney named Dan Gallagher that has an affair with his colleague Alex Forrest while his wife is out of town. Everything seems to be going fine until Dan decides to end the affair. In addition to cutting her wrists after he breaks the news to her, Alex begins stalking Dan and his family. Her unhealthy obsession soon turns violent as she even goes as far as boiling Dan’s daughter Ellen’s pet rabbit to death. As Glen Close earned an Oscar nod for Best Actress for her portrayal as the psychotic Alex, the character served as a prime example of what an unhealthy attachment can lead someone to do.
4. Ginger McKenna – Casino
Directed by Martin Scorsese, Casino follows the life of 1970s casino boss Sam Rothstein. As Sam becomes smitten by a hustler named Ginger McKenna, he makes the foolish decision to marry her despite her warnings in advance that she’s not wife material. As the years progress and Ginger develops a substance abuse problem, her behavior spirals out of control. From kidnapping their daughter to run away with her ex-boyfriend to having an affair with Sam’s best friend, Ginger does everything she can destroy his life (even though she destroys her own in the process). Sharon Stone’s performance as the greedy, but troubled Ginger arguably outshined her male co-stars as it earned her an Oscar nod for Best Actress.
3. Kathryn Mertueil – Cruel Intentions
One of the defining movies of the late ‘90s teen boom, Cruel Intentions centers around wealthy teenagers Kathryn Mertueli and her stepbrother Sebastian Valmont. Both attending a prestigious private school, the two of them spend their time manipulating the lives of everyone around them for their own entertainment. Kathryn then makes a bet with Sebastian where she’ll agree to sleep with him if he’s able to sleep with the new headmaster’s daughter Annette Hargrove (who’s already aware of his womanizing reputation). As Sebastian eventually falls for Annette and wants out of the bet, Kathryn manipulates him into feeling shame over his changed behavior in order to get him to sabotage his new relationship. Played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, the Kathryn Mertueli character and her manipulative ways are a huge reason why the movie is the cult classic that it is today.
2. Hilly Holbrook – The Help
Set in 1960’s Jackson Mississippi, The Help centers around aspiring journalist Skeeter Philan writing a book exposing the experiences of black maids in the south. From her research, she learns of the poor treatment the maids experience working for white families. The woman most guilty of this poor treatment throughout the film is Hilly Holbrook, a wealthy socialite who leads the Jackson chapter of the Junior League. From proposing a law to keep black domestic workers from using the same bathrooms as the white families they work for, firing her maid Minny for using an indoor bathroom during a tornado, and then going as far as to spreading lies about Minny stealing to keep her from getting another job, Hilly is simply rotten to the core. Played by Bryce Dallas Howard, her performance is one that gets any decent human enraged at the racism that existed back then and the racism that still exists today.
1. Amy Elliot Dunne – Gone Girl
Gone Girl sees Rosamund Pike play a woman named Amy Elliot Dunne, the missing wife of writing teacher Nick Dunne. As her disappearance receives widespread media coverage, the fact that her marriage with Nick was having issues beforehand makes people suspect that he had something to do with it. As revenge for Nick having an affair with a student, it’s later revealed through Amy’s narration that she framed him for her murder. From writing fabricated details in her diary to splatting her own blood in the kitchen for police to find, Amy made everything up in order to destroy Nick’s life and gain public sympathy. As manipulative and evil as it gets, the Amy Elliot Dunne character ended up being one of the few movie villains who never received their comeuppance.
Honorable Mentions:
- Andrea – The Family That Preys
- Peyton Flanders – The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
- Eleanor Crisp – Kindergarten Cop
- Mary Lee Johnston – Precious
- Katharine Parker – Working Girl
