“Uma is obviously an icon,” the director tells PEOPLE of Thurman, who plays a reclusive former ballet prodigy in ‘Pretty Lethal’
Credit: Travis P. Ball/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Vicky Jewson, the director of Pretty Lethal, praised the film’s star, Uma Thurman, for her ability to transform into a villain
- Thurman previously played villains Poison Ivy in 1997’s Batman & Robin and Discord in 2025’s The Old Guard 2
- In Pretty Lethal, Thurman plays villain Devora Kasimer, a reclusive former ballet prodigy who runs an unsettling inn
Uma Thurman is back in another villain era on-screen.
Speaking with PEOPLE in an exclusive conversation at the world premiere of Pretty Lethal during the 2026 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, on March 13, the action thriller’s director, Vicky Jewson, praised Thurman’s ability to transform into a villain in this movie and throughout her career.
“Uma is obviously an icon, and she can play a villain like nobody else can,” the director said of Thurman, 55, who has played Poison Ivy in 1997’s Batman & Robin and Discord in 2025’s The Old Guard 2.
Credit: Courtesy of Prime
In Pretty Lethal, Thurman plays villain Devora Kasimer, a reclusive former ballet prodigy who runs an unsettling roadside inn.
“She has a wicked sense of humor, and she also brings empathy to the character that allows you to stay with the character when the most absurd stuff happens,” Jewson, 40, said. “I don’t think anyone but someone of Uma’s talent could do that.”
Pretty Lethal, according to the film’s synopsis, centers on five ballerinas on their way to a dance competition when their bus breaks down in a forest, so they hesitantly seek shelter at the inn run by Thurman’s character.
The synopsis adds, “From the moment they arrive, something feels wrong — and their worst instincts prove right. As the situation turns deadly, [they] must set aside rivalries and weaponize years of brutal training, turning grace, discipline and even pointe shoes into tools for survival.”
Credit: Adam Kissick/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty
Aside from the Kill Bill star, the Pretty Lethal cast includes Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika and Maddie Ziegler.
The director also told PEOPLE how The Nutcracker influenced this film.
“It is the performance where Devorah lost her dream, and that informs her character throughout the whole film,” Jewson said. “Every single inch of that space is a tribute to The Nutcracker, so she can feel like she’s never ever away from the great love of her life, which is ballet.”
Pretty Lethal premieres on Prime Video on March 25.
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