Double Indemnity response - Meghan Frank
In Double Indemnity Phyllis plays the part of the femme fatale perfectly. Throughout the film she seduces men to manipulate them into doing what she wants. She first "innocently" plants the idea of killing her husband into Walter Neff's mind. She tells Walter that her husband is "mean to her" and that he doesn't love her. We never see any evidence of this "abuse" and are unsure if she is telling the truth. Walter agrees to kill her husband and make sure it looks like an accident for the insurance company. Phyllis pulls Walter into her world by convincing him she is in love, which we learn later is a complete lie.
After the insurance company starts to investigate the death of Phyllis' husband we learn even more about her conniving ways. Her stepdaughter, Lola, reveals that Phyllis killed her mother, seduced her father and manipulated him into marrying her. Phyllis also manipulates Lola's boyfriend into believing that Lola does not love him. She intended to use his jealousy in order to kill Lola. She was going to tell him Lola was with another man and Phyllis knew he would fly into a murderous rage. Throughout the entire film Phyllis lies and manipulates to get men to do what she wants. She never had feelings for anyone and everything she did was for her own selfish gain. She perfectly exemplifies the characteristics of the traditional femme fatale.