Fails the Bechdel test
A Complete Unknown
2024. Directed by James Mangold, written by James Mangold and Jay Cocks and Elijah Wald.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Set in the influential New York City music scene of the early 1960s, "A Complete Unknown" follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan's meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts as his songs and his mystique become a worldwide sensation that culminates in his groundbreaking electric rock-and-roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
- Released
- 25 Dec 2024
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Music
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 8 Oscars. 30 wins & 135 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bob 261 lines, man
- Pete 145 lines, man
- Sylvie 81 lines, woman
- Bob Sings 61 lines, man
- Joan 60 lines, woman
- Alan Lomax 35 lines, man
- Neuwirth 29 lines, man
- Albert 21 lines, man
- Albert Grossman 21 lines, man
- Johnny Cash 20 lines, man
Full cast, 93 people
- Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan
- Edward Norton as Pete Seeger
- Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo
- Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez
- Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie
- Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman
- Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash
- Will Harrison as Bob Neuwirth
- Joe Tippett as Dave Van Ronk
- Eriko Hatsune as Toshi Seeger
- Peter Gray Lewis as Frank (Lawyer)
- Peter Gerety as Federal Judge
- Lenny Grossman as Federal Court Clerk
- David Wenzel as Cab Driver
- Riley Hashimoto as Danny Seeger
- Eloise Peyrot as Tinya Seeger
- Maya Feldman as Mika Seeger
- Reza Salazar as Tito (Gerdes Stage Manager)
- James Austin Johnson as Gerdes M.C.
- David Alan Basche as John Hammond
- Joshua Henry as Brownie McGhee (Blues Musician)
- Norbert Leo Butz as Alan Lomax
- Alaina Surgener as Gena Russo
- Martin Fisher as Civil Rights Speaker
- Craig Geraghty as Mailman
- Michael Everett Johnson as Orderly
- Jater Webb as Young Musician at Party
- Andy Talen as Jimmy Dean
- Andrew Kober as Man On Payphone
- Eric Berryman as Tom Wilson
- Molly Jobe as CBS Receptionist
- Sophie Hart as Girl #1 (D.C. Hotel)
- Taylor Valentine Lupini as Girl #2 (D.C. Hotel)
- P.J. Byrne as Harold Levanthal
- Nick Pupo as Peter Yarrow
- Brendan Burke as Street Vendor
- Laura Kariuki as Becka
- Zoe Zien as Tilda
- Kevyn Morrow as Party Guest #1
- Andy Grotelueschen as Party Guest #2
- Jonathan Spivey as Party Guest #3
- Cilda Shaur as Party Guest #4
- Clark Carmichael as Party Guest #5
- Taylor Goodwyn as Woman at McAnn's
- Arthur Langlie as Sylvie's New Boyfriend
- Michael Chernus as Theodore Bikel
- Jordan Goodsell as Roy Halee (Engineer)
- Eli Brown as Mike Bloomfield
- Big Bill Morganfield as Jesse Moffette
- Liam Craig as Jonah (TV Floor Director)
- Charlie Tahan as Al Kooper
- Ian Kagey as Harvey Brooks (Columbia Records)
- Dave Maulbeck as Newport Cab Driver
- Lorin Doctor as Spacey Girl
- Aidan Close as Kid in Crowd
- Irina Chelidze as Girl in Crowd
- Jenna Veal as Newport Festival Fan #1
- Joshua Flinchbaugh as Newport Festival Fan #2
- Cameron G. Quevedo as Newport Festival Fan #3
- Alexis Felix as Newport Festival Fan #4
- Will Price as Joe Boyd (Sound Engineer)
- Sunny Vinsavich as Angry Fan
- Kayli Carter as Maria Muldaur
- Steve Bell as Sony Terry (Blues Musician)
- Malcolm Gold as Marshall Grant (Tennessee 3)
- Patrick Phalen as Luther Perkins (Tennessee 3)
- Douglas Marriner as W.S. Holland (Tennessee 3)
- Justin Levine as Barry Goldberg (Newport Band '65)
- Mark Whitfield, Jr. as Sam Lay (Newport Band '65)
- Joshua Crumbley as Jerome Arnold (Newport Band '65)
- Felix Lemerle as Kenny Rankin (Columbia Records)
- Malick Koly as Bruce Langhorne (Columbia Records)
- Andre Chez Lewis as Paul Griffin (Columbia Records)
- Jimmy Caltrider as Bobby Gregg (Columbia Records)
- Kyle A. Sanna as Patsy Celtic Band Member
- Patrick M. Dennis as Patsy Celtic Band Member
- Nick Baxter as Patsy Celtic Band Member
- Alan Murray as Musician Outside Viking #1
- Mark Gross as Musician Outside Viking #2
- Andy Stein as Musician Outside Viking #3
- Jean Rohe as Musician Outside Viking #4
- Farley Rene as Texas Prison Working Group #1
- Junior Cius as Texas Prison Working Group #2
- Travis Patton as Texas Prison Working Group #3
- Victor Sho as Texas Prison Working Group #4
- Vincent Mp Filliatre as Texas Prison Working Group #5
- Amos J. Machanic as Texas Prison Working Group #6
- Sunny Jain as Man Playing Tambourine
- James Archie Worley as Vendor Sings Opera
- Stephen Carter Carlsen as Paul Stookey (uncredited)
- Bridget McGarry as Young Woman in Cocktail Dress (uncredited)
- Michael Lepre as Cab Driver (uncredited)
- Jon Gennari as Folk Festival Stage Manager (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 123
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 51 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 14 |
| 16 to 18 | 3 | 12 |
| 19 to 21 | 5 | 26 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 10 | 25 |
| 28 to 30 | 16 | 12 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 17 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 6 |
| 37 to 39 | 16 | 16 |
| 40 to 42 | 10 | 5 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 4 |
| 49 to 51 | 14 | 18 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 8 |
| 55 to 57 | 13 | 11 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 4 |
| 64 to 66 | 2 | 23 |
| 67 to 69 | 1 | 4 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 17 |
| 73 to 75 | 4 | 22 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 26 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 19 |
| 82 to 84 | 3 | 33 |
| 85 to 87 | 16 | 18 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 43 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 18 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 10 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 16 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 3 |
| 103 to 105 | 16 | 18 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 33 |
| 109 to 111 | 5 | 5 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 56 |
| 115 to 117 | 4 | 79 |
| 118 to 120 | 3 | 7 |
| 121 to 123 | 3 | 21 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
178 lines from women, 734 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
18 women and 56 men in the cast. 11 women and 55 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 83 of 978.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 82 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 14% of the words (1,469), men 86% (9,026). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
2
Two men
67
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 17 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- James Mangold (man)
- Written by
- Jay Cocks (man), James Mangold (man)
- Produced by
- Timothée Chalamet (man), James Mangold (man), Alan Gasmer (man), Bob Bookman (man), Peter Jaysen (man), Fred Berger (man) and 2 more
- Shot by
- Phedon Papamichael (man)
- Edited by
- Andrew Buckland (man), Scott Morris (man)
- Production design by
- François Audouy (man)
- Costumes by
- Arianne Phillips (woman)
- Cast by
- Yesi Ramirez (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
7 women, 21 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 13 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 19 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elle Fanning 26, Monica Barbaro 35, Eriko Hatsune 42
Men
Timothée Chalamet 28, Will Harrison 28, Joe Tippett 42, Boyd Holbrook 43, Scoot McNairy 47, Dan Fogler 48, Edward Norton 55
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $65 million
- Box office
- $141 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 123 scenes and 978 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
