As the final film of the Daniel Craig era, No Time To Die (2021) is deeply referential to Bond tradition. Yet one of its most surprising achievements lies in its treatment of the Bond Girl. Drawing on both the literary and cinematic versions of The Spy Who Loved Me, the film shifts attention away from James Bond and toward the women whose stories have traditionally existed at the margins of the franchise.

The film opens not with Bond, but with a young Madeleine Swann witnessing the murder of her mother by Lyutsifer Safin. This traumatic encounter establishes a deeply personal connection between the Bond Girl and the villain before Bond even enters the story. Unlike most Bond films especially in the Daniel Craig era, where the conflict revolves around Bond himself, No Time To Die positions Swann at the emotional center of the narrative.

This approach has roots in Ian Fleming’s 1962 novel The Spy Who Loved Me, which is famously told from the perspective of Vivienne Michel rather than Bond. Fleming devotes considerable attention to Michel’s childhood, relationships, and unintended pregnancy before Bond appears. Similarly, Swann is given a life, history, and motivations that exist independently of Bond.

The centrality of Swann becomes even clearer on a second viewing. Initially, her secrecy invites suspicion from both Bond and the audience. Once viewers learn she is pregnant (like Michel) and attempting to protect her unborn child, however, her actions take on a very different meaning. Rather than appearing deceptive, she emerges as a sympathetic figure manhandled and subsequently abandoned by Bond in a moment of anger and mistrust.

The film briefly returns to a more familiar Bond Girl archetype through Paloma. Dressed in an elegant evening gown reminiscent of Bond Girl Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Paloma initially presents herself as inexperienced and somewhat nervous about her first field assignment. Her performance draws on a longstanding Bond tradition in which femininity functions as a form of disguise, encouraging both Bond and the audience to underestimate her capabilities.

The façade quickly disappears during the film’s standout Cuba sequence, where Paloma reveals extraordinary combat and gunplay skills. Combining glamour, humour, and physical competence, she fights alongside Bond as an equal partner in the mission. In doing so, Paloma recalls the Action Hero Bond Girls of the 1990s and early 2000s, women who actively participated in the action rather than merely supporting Bond from the sidelines.

Ultimately, however, the film belongs to Swann. The story revolves around her reunion with Bond, the revelation of their daughter Mathilde, and Bond’s efforts to protect the family he never expected to have. His final sacrifice is motivated not by Queen and country, but by the women he loves.

Most significantly, No Time To Die begins and ends with Swann’s perspective. It opens with her childhood trauma and concludes with her telling Mathilde a story about Bond. By framing the narrative through Swann’s memories and storytelling, the film transforms Bond from the sole hero of the story into someone remembered through the eyes of a Bond Girl.

In the end, No Time To Die asks audiences to reconsider whose story is being told. While James Bond remains the franchise’s iconic hero, it is Madeleine Swann who shapes the narrative, preserves his legacy, and tells the story of “the spy who loved us.”