Listicle: 10 women who killed on screen and totally slayed

What happens when your lover looks ALMOST like your useless husband? You accidentally-on-purpose murder him and fix your bae to ensure he stays bae (and you stay out of jail). Netflix’s hit comedy thriller has Konkona Sen Sharma playing the nurse-turned-home chef, and Manoj Bajpayee as the husband / squint-eyed doppleganger lover. The dead bodies pile up as the web gets more tangled. One can’t help but agree with some of Swathi’s decisions.

The show, based on the books by Caroline Kepnes, presents Penn Badgley as the compulsive killer Joe. But Victoria Pedretti as his partner Love Quinn (in season 2), makes the drama even more sinister. She makes every murder seem reasonable, necessary even: Infidelity, breach of consent, jealousy. Death count? Between the nanny, their neighbours, Joe’s neighbour, Joe’s ex, maybe even her first husband, who knows?

Dimple Kapadia kills it, literally. In Homi Adajania’s crime drama show, she plays the gun-wielding, cigarette-smoking matriarch in charge of the family business: Drug dealing. Of course, Kapadia is having traitors and rivals murdered left, right and centre. It helps that the entire venture is run by badass women who showcase their fighting skills aplenty.

A cat and mouse game with a twist no one saw coming. The MI6 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) develops something of a fatal attraction to Villanelle (Jodie Comer) the assassin she’s pursuing. It’s easy to see why Eve is smitten. Villanelle can stab a man in the eye with a syringe and execute a hit in a crowded nightclub. But that cold and calculating persona is, like so much else, just a front.

Simi (Tabu) is the picture of innocence, winning hearts as she commits one murder after another in this comedy thriller. It begins when pianist Akash, who fakes being blind as an experiment, literally stumbles upon Simi’s husband’s body. Simi also kills nosy neighbour Mrs D’Sa and even attempts to kill Akash. It’s panic that ignites her killer instinct. The murders are unforgiveable, but so satisfying to watch.

Drew Barrymore as a cute zombie? Yes please. She only kills to survive. The show focuses on what happens to the mundane lives of husband-wife real estate team Joel and Sheila Hammond when Sheila becomes a zombie. It goes beyond murder. There’s hoarding, rationing, and the matter of how to get rid of the body when someone is killed by accident.

Pop culture loves stories about hairdressers. Najarra Townsend plays Claire, who obsesses over her clients’ lives before killing them, scalping them and storing the trophies in her cellar. It’s less Silence Of The Lambs and more a tale of a lonely, insecure woman acting out in the worst way. The tale triggers empathy, rare for a horror movie.

Hollywood can’t deal with women who like their own company .Why else do they keep portraying them as loons? It all starts when Ma (Octavia Spencer) befriends some teens, who ask if they can party in her basement. The house rules: One kid has to stay sober, no cursing, and no access to the upstairs. The kids break them. The teenage dream turns into a messy, gory nightmare.

Bebo’s playing a killer and we’re here for it. She’s a single mother caught in a crime investigation, who considers sacrificing herself to cover up for her daughter. Then, her neighbour, a math teacher and genius, steps in and helps her get rid of the body. Her fierce mom vibe and poker face make her the quiet compelling murderer.

Sushmita Sen slays in this crime show. She starts out as a naïve, caring mother, unaware of her family’s illegal business, until her husband is killed. Enter Mama Bear. She takes over the business, puts her three kids out of harm’s way and emerges as the mafia queen, taking revenge on the killers. When it’s kill or be killed, Aarya stands up for herself. Who wouldn’t?