A dominatrix (plural dominatrices or dominatrixes) or mistress is a woman who takes the dominant role in bondage and discipline, dominance and submission or BDSM.
As fetish culture is increasingly becoming more prevalent in Western media, depictions of dominatrices in film and television have become more common.
| Year | Country | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | United States | Olga's House of Shame, White Slaves of Chinatown, Olga's Girls | Sexploitation trilogy, all from 1964, with Audrey Campbell as Olga, sadistic mistress of a white slavery ring. |
| 1967 | United States | Venus in Furs | Sexploitation film directed by Joseph Marzano loosely based on the novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. |
| 1969 | Italy | Venus in Furs | Based on the Sacher-Masoch story, directed by Massimo Dallamano. (Not to be confused with the Jess Franco horror film also from 1969.) |
| 1976 | France | Maîtresse | Gérard Depardieu becomes involved with dominatrix Bulle Ogier. |
| 1985 | Germany | Seduction: The Cruel Woman | Inspired by Venus in Furs, this is a study of a dominatrix who takes on both male and female slaves. |
| 1986 | UK | Sid and Nancy | Nancy works with a dominatrix |
| 1987 | UK | Personal Services | Lots of different scenes |
| 1992 | Japan | Tokyo Decadence | Miho Nikaido portrays a timid call girl who does a kinky session with a male client and female dominatrix. |
| 1994 | United States | Exit to Eden | Comedy with Dana Delany as the dominatrix owner of an S&M resort. |
| 1994 | The Netherlands | Venus in Furs | Faithful adaptation of the Sacher-Masoch novella. |
| 1997 | United Kingdom | Preaching to the Perverted | Comedy with Guinevere Turner as the dominatrix owner of a notorious English S&M club. |
| 1999 | United States | Body Shots | Emily Procter plays a dominatrix who binds and paddles Ron Livingston. |
| 1999 | United States | Payback | Lucy Liu portrays a sadistic dominatrix who is the leader of a gang of Chinese Triads |
| 1999 | United States | The General's Daughter | Leslie Stefanson's character is shown on a tape watched by John Travolta's character as acting the role of a dominatrix with a male partner |
| 2000 | United States | Dancing at the Blue Iguana | Jennifer Tilly plays a stripper in S&M outfits and part-time dominatrix seen in an extensive scene bullying a male client. |
| 2002 | United States | The Fashionistas | Award-winning pornographic film from Evil Angel explores the world of fetish fashion, BDSM, and kinky sex. |
| 2004 | United States | Bettie Page: Dark Angel | Biopic recreates many of her sub/dom fetish films for Irving Klaw. |
| 2004 | United Kingdom | The Dominatrix | Drama about the life of a career Dom. |
| 2004 | United States | EuroTrip | Comedy with Lucy Lawless as a German dominatrix in an Amsterdam S&M club. |
| 2004 | United States | Going Under | Drama about the relationship between a married man and a partnered dominatrix. |
| 2005 | United States | Reefer Madness | Kristen Bell is seen as a dominatrix while singing "Little Mary Sunshine" |
| 2005 | United States | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Angelina Jolie's character poses as a dominatrix as a plot to assassinate a target |
| 2005 | United States | Bettie Page: Bondage Queen | Cult Epics DVD compilation of Irving Klaw's 1950s BDSM fetish films featuring Bettie Page as both dominatrix and damsel-in-distress. |
| 2006 | United States | Shortbus | Comedy-drama featuring the professional dominatrix Severin who wants to help Sofia to loosen up sexually so that she can have her first orgasm. |
| 2007 | Canada | Walk All Over Me | Comedy-drama with Tricia Helfer as a professional dominatrix. |
| 2007 | Japan | New Tokyo Decadence - The Slave | Dominatrix turned secretary is blackmailed into being an S&M slave by her boss. |
| 2009 | United States | Modern Love is Automatic | A bored nurse moonlights as a dominatrix for hire. |
| 2009 | United States | Brüno | A homosexual Austrian fashion reporter has an experience with a dominatrix. |
| 2009 | United States | Frat Party | A frat party, has an extended scene in the frat house "dungeon" with a dominatrix. |
| 2009 | United States | My Normal | The story of Natalie, a young lesbian, who's struggling to find a balance between her dreams of becoming a film maker and her lifestyle as a dominatrix |
| Year | Season | Show | Episode(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–1999 | Three | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | The Wish and Doppelgangland | The alternate universes "Vampire Willow" is shown as a dominatrix like character, who tortures the character Angel in an overtly sexual way akin to BDSM. When Vampire Willow is later described to the real Willow by Buffy, she says "It was exactly you, Will, every detail. Except for your not being a dominatrix... as far as we know." |
| 2000 | Two | Family Guy | Let's Go to the Hop | Gag depicts main characters Lois and Peter suiting up for a sadomasochistic session (Lois as a dominatrix) while carrying on a conversation about how to protect their children from the new "Toad" drug craze. The scene ends with Lois telling Peter the safeword for the session and Peter telling her he loves her and the session commences (and the scene ends). |
| 2000 | One | Jack of All Trades (TV series) | X Marquis the Spot | Angela Dotchin pretends to be a dominatrix at the S&M island resort of the Marquis de Sade. |
| 2003 | Two | Alias | Second Double | Jennifer Garner goes undercover as a German dominatrix in a Berlin leather bar. |
| 2004–2005 | One | Desperate Housewives | Come Back to Me | In one scene, Sharon Lawrence plays a dominatrix who walks across Rex Van de Kamp's back in stiletto heels |
| 2005 | Three | NCIS | Kill Ari (Part 1) | In the aftermath of agent Kate Todd's (Sasha Alexander) death, McGee (Sean Murray) remembers her initially as Trinity from The Matrix, then as a dominatrix. |
| 2005 | One | House M.D. | Love Hurts | A 21-year-old male was diagnosed with an aneurysm. Chase reveals that the woman visiting the patient is a dominatrix after finding her choking him during a visit. |
| 2001–2011 | Several | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Slaves of Las Vegas, Lady Heather's Box, Pirates of the Third Reich, The Good, the Bad, and the Dominatrix, Leave Out All the Rest, Unleashed | Several stories with BDSM themes plus six episodes featuring Melinda Clarke as Lady Heather, a dominatrix who owns a fetish club. |
| 2007 | One | Secret Diary of a Call Girl | 1.4 (no title) | In the 4th episode, "Belle" (Billie Piper) takes BDSM lessons from a professional dominatrix to please a submissive client. |
| 2008 | Two | Private Practice | Past Tense | KaDee Strickland is seen roleplaying as a German dominatrix in a latex outfit with studded collar and whip. |
| 2009 | One | Dollhouse | Spy in the House of Love | Echo (Eliza Dushku), is seen as a leather-clad whip-wielding dominatrix. |
| 2009 | Two | 1000 Ways to Die | Domin-a-Dead (a.k.a. Rubbered Out) | Episode where dominatrix gags a guy with a severe allergy to rubber latex |
| 2009 | Five | Rescue Me (TV series) | Initiation | Callie Thorne's character seduces Tommy (Dennis Leary) dressed as a cheerleader, Playboy bunny and latex-clad dominatrix. They are seen briefly paddling each other in a fast-motion sequence. |
| 2009 | One | Castle (TV series) | The Mistress Always Spanks Twice | The body of a woman covered in caramel sauce is found hanging from playground equipment in a park, prompting the team to venture into the world of bondage and fetish clubs, and plenty of playful banter between Castle and Beckett. |
| 2012 | Two | Sherlock | A Scandal in Belgravia | Irene Adler is a professional dominatrix. |
In the 1997 game 'Dungeon Keeper' and its 1999 sequel 'Dungeon Keeper 2', one type of dungeon inhabitant is the Dark Mistress, a dominatrix scantily clad in black mail armour and high heels, with metal finger claws and whips. When idle, they torture themselves, each other, or enemy creatures in the torture room. Also, the shadow of character Chie Satonaka in the 2008 game 'Persona 4' is fought in the form of a Dominatrix armed with a whip, sitting on a tower of puppets. The 2006 stealth game Hitman: Blood Money has a level called Dance With The Devil, where Agent 47 must infiltrate a hell-themed party, where it is implied but not shown that male guests participate in submissive sex with dominatrix escorts.