10 Traits That Make Up A Modern Day Horror Movie Final Girl
7. Rule 4 - She Has To Be An Intelligent Young Woman
To be able to survive the peril of a movie murderer you have to be smart! This isn't a new trait of a final girl, but it has been given a fresh coat of paint in more recent horror movies.
Back at the birth of final girls, they were written to be booksmart and quick on their feet, which most modern day versions are too. But the character trait is definitely more nuanced now.
The final girls usually have or are obtaining university degrees, usually in the creative arts, like Dana from Cabin in The Woods who's a talented artist or Maddie from Hush who is a successful author.
The final girl has to be smart about life too, sometimes even jaded, like Rocky from Don't Breathe, who uses her street smarts to rob houses. The final girl needs this awareness about life so she's prepared for the killer and can use her smarts to fight back and have it feel earned when she defeats him.
Finally, and most importantly, she has to be emotionally smart. A modern day final girl needs to have the opposite of the emotional range of a tea spoon, and usually the characters around her will rely on her for advice and for grounding in high stress situations.
The final girl is the wise owl and the men around her are usually ridiculously stupid... which is why they all die.