(CNN) — “I’m rotten to the heart,” Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) confesses with breathless bitterness in Billy Wilder’s classic 1944 noir, “Double Indemnity.” Eighty years ago this month, ...

The femme fatale trope has long been a mainstay of film noir, from Phyllis Dietrichson in “Double Indemnity” (1944) to Amy Dunne in “Gone Girl.” (2014). Beyond those on the screen, however, many tend ...

Femme fatales have been around for a long time and continue to be an indelible figure in cinematic history, including in the upcoming Netflix film "Hit Man." The femme fatale is a figure that dates ...

Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) in L.A. Confidential (1997) Image via Warner Bros. The film noir genre introduced audiences to the alluring but dangerous femme fatale in unforgettable classics such as ...

The femme fatale has been a stock character across film genres. The term is defined as a seductive or alluring woman who either causes distress or disaster for any man who becomes involved with her.

'80s Week: Adrian Lyne's genre classic is also a cautionary tale about modern feminism, the femme fatale trope, and how little things change. In Lyne’s film the male schmuck in question is a married ...

Editor’s Note: Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat) is a freelance writer in Chicago. The views expressed here are his own. View more opinion on CNN. “I’m rotten to the heart,” Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara ...

This week, Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” picks up the femme fatale and takes her for another run at her usual narrative — seducing a good man with doe eyes and promises of sex and money. Things have ...