Sévérine

Sévérine
James Bond character
Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine
First appearance	Skyfall
Portrayed by	Bérénice Marlohe
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Raoul Silva's representative Sex slave (former)
Affiliation	Raoul Silva
Classification	Bond girl

Sévérine is a fictional character who appears in the 23rd James Bond film Skyfall (2012). Portrayed by Bérénice Marlohe, Sévérine is a former sex slave who works as an accomplice of Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem). She collaborates with Bond to stop her boss, but is captured and killed by Silva.

After hearing about the film's casting call in Paris, Marlohe contacted director Sam Mendes and casting director Debbie McWilliams directly. Securing the role after two auditions, she said that she felt a strong connection with the James Bond films. Having an affinity for the franchise's villains such as May Day, Marlohe looked to Xenia Onatopp as a point of inspiration for her performance.

Basing the character on a chimera, Marlohe said she distanced herself from the title of a Bond girl in favor of being more modern and realistic. Media commentators characterized Sévérine as a femme fatale and an anti-heroine. Daniel Craig, who portrayed James Bond in the film, responded positively to her interpretation of the character. Costume designer Jany Temime designed Sévérine's wardrobe using concepts from film noir as well as contemporary fashion, with close attention paid to the black dress she wears when she meets Bond in the Macau casino.

Following Sévérine's first appearances in promotional materials for Skyfall, film critics noted that the character was a return to the classic elements of the James Bond films, specifically Bond meeting a beautiful and mysterious woman. Critics had a mixed response to Sévérine, comparing her to previous Bond girls, and had differing opinions on how she matched or differed from the general characteristics expected of the role. Critical response to Bond's treatment of Sévérine has been largely negative; commentators responded negatively to Bond's seduction of the character after discovering that she was a sex slave, and his cold response to her death. The lack of impact of Sévérine's death on the film's overall narrative was described as representative of the franchise's recurring treatment of women as disposable plot devices or sex objects. However, some critics defended Sévérine's story arc as appropriate for Bond's character development.