Hawkes presents a gaunt and gentle threat, not least when he croons a love song to the violated heroine, while Olsen is a beautiful paradox: an actress holding together a movie as a woman who is coming apart.

NEWYORKER: Martha Marcy May Marlene

She is a beautiful, educated and stylish young woman, who has embraced her role with ease and injected much-needed glamour to the British royal family.

CNN: Opinion: Author's rant on Catherine 'mean and cheap'

The sepulchre of Rufina Cambaceres is a beautiful Art Nouveau work depicting a young woman tearfully opening heaven's door.

BBC: The Recoleta Cemetery: Silent theatre and city of the dead

What makes "The Quiet American" so compelling this time around is the drama of two men bewitched, or besotted, by a beautiful woman (played with affecting simplicity by Do Thi Hai Yen).

WSJ: 'Quiet American': A Fine Film

"The principle is that 'I am a woman and have a lot to offer, I am beautiful and intelligent and have great values, '" he says.

WSJ: Metro Money: Measuring Up for Matches

When Armstrong finds the body of a beautiful young woman outside the house of an influential senator, the case is handed to Freeman.

ECONOMIST: Conspiracies and bioengineering