In this thesis, I examine the evolution of the Final Girl trope in horror films. I reviewed literature on the establishment of the Final Girl trope and neoliberal feminism to frame my research question: “What are the parallels between the new Final Girls and neoliberal feminism?” In order to answer this question, I reviewed four horror films to compare and contrast the traditional formula of the Final Girl from the slasher film subgenre to the newly developed Good for Her subgenre of horror film. The themes are: (1) How were Final Girls traditionally represented in horror films and (2) The shift in female representation in contemporary horror films. By analyzing the films, I was able to identify key differences between the Final Girls of the 70’s and the Final Girls of the 2010’s and 2020’s and draw a parallel to neoliberal feminism due to the changes in social-economic structure as represented in the culture industry.
