Forget the notion that action is a young man’s game. The Hunger Games series introduced a vivid archetype: the ruthless, elegant older woman. But it was John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) that gave us Anjelica Huston as The Director, a balletic, lethal matriarch. Meanwhile, Helen Mirren has become an unlikely action icon, firing shotguns in the Fast & Furious franchise and leading the charge in The Queen (2006) – a film that proved a slow-burn drama about a grieving elderly monarch could gross over $120 million globally.