Uma Thurman is stepping back into villain territory, and the director behind her latest role couldn’t be more gushy about what she brings to the part.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the world premiere of Pretty Lethal during the 2026 SXSW Film Festival in Austin on 13 March, director Vicky Jewson was unstinting in her praise for the 55-year-old actress. 

“Uma is obviously an icon, and she can play a villain like nobody else can,” Jewson said. 

“She has a wicked sense of humour, and she also brings empathy to the character that allows you to stay with the character when the most absurd stuff happens. I don’t think anyone but someone of Uma’s talent could do that.”

In Pretty Lethal, Thurman plays Devora Kasimer, a reclusive former ballet prodigy running an unsettling roadside inn. 

The film follows five ballerinas travelling to a dance competition whose bus breaks down in a forest, forcing them to seek shelter at Devora’s inn, where things quickly take a sinister turn. 

As the situation turns deadly, the young dancers must set aside their rivalries and turn their years of brutal training into something rather more useful than performance, weaponising their skills, and even their pointe shoes, for survival.

It’s a role that adds to Thurman’s already formidable villainous CV, which includes Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin and Discord in last year’s The Old Guard 2. 

Thurman is joined in the film by Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika and Maddie Ziegler. 

Pretty Lethal premieres on Prime Video on 25 March.