10 Traits That Make Up A Modern Day Horror Movie Final Girl
6. Rule 5 - The Film's Events Must Make Her Go Through A Physical Transformation
We've talked about the final girl experiencing trauma in her past, but we can't forget that she goes to hell and back during the movie's run time too! And now, because our final girls are more than one dimensional playthings for our killer to target and hunt, they actually get transformed by the horrors they face, often gaining real strength from their experiences, physically and emotionally.
It's not uncommon now for final girls to take on iconic looks in the third act, wielding weapons and being covered in blood. The emotional journey is just as important though, and some filmmakers even use the final girl's emotional journey as the central theme of their movie, like with Dani in Midsommar.
The film is centred around Dani and the journey she goes on throughout, and as mentioned she starts the movie already having been shaped somewhat by her trauma. But as the movie continues, the events that literally and figuratively suck the life out of all the other characters actually give life back to Dani. She has to literally hit rock bottom to be able to build back up again.
In The Final Girls, young Max begins the movie small and meek, but as the events force her face up to her past trauma and grow from it, she becomes empowered. And because of the film's meta-framing, Max literally garners physical strength when she becomes the final girl of the movie (within a movie).
It's not subtle but it still speaks to the transformation that the new age final girl must go through to be able to take on the killer and win!