Passes the Bechdel test

A Haunting in Venice

Name: A Haunting in Venice
Released: 2023

2023. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, written by Michael Green and Agatha Christie.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 13 scenes out of 134.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

In eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows' Eve, Hercule Poirot is now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world's most glamorous city. But when Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo, one of the guests is murdered, thrusting the detective into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.

Released: 15 Sep 2023
Genres: Crime, Drama, Horror
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.5 / 10
Metascore: 63 / 100
Awards: 7 wins & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Poirot 217 lines, man
Ariadne Oliver 108 lines, woman
Olga Seminoff 55 lines, woman
Rowena Drake 53 lines, woman
Ms. Reynolds 50 lines, woman
Leopold 44 lines, man
Vitale Portfoglio 38 lines, man
Desdemona 33 lines, woman
Maxime Gerard 31 lines, man
Insert Cut 30 lines

Full cast, 24 people

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot
Kyle Allen as Maxime Gerard
Camille Cottin as Olga Seminoff
Jamie Dornan as Dr Leslie Ferrier
Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver
Jude Hill as Leopold Ferrier
Ali Khan as Nicholas Holland
Emma Laird as Desdemona Holland
Kelly Reilly as Rowena Drake
Riccardo Scamarcio as Vitale Portfoglio
Michelle Yeoh as Joyce Reynolds
Dylan Corbett-Bader as Baker
Amir El-Masry as Alessandro Longo
Fernando Piloni as Vincenzo Di Stefano
Lorenzo Acquaviva as Grocer
David Menkin as Puppet Show MC
Yaw Nimako-Asameah as Child (Cookie Gobbler)
Clara Duczmal as Child (Crying Girl)
Rowan Robinson as Alicia Drake
Stella Harris as Child (Staircase 1)
Emilio Villa-Muhammad as Child (Staircase 2)
Vanessa Ifediora as Sister Maria Felicitas
Esther Rae Tillotson as Alicia Drake (Young)
Winnie Soldi as Police Captain

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 134

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	1
7 to 9	0	1
10 to 12	0	1
13 to 15	10	12
16 to 18	8	5
19 to 21	0	0
22 to 24	3	4
25 to 27	0	0
28 to 30	10	6
31 to 33	4	7
34 to 36	2	1
37 to 39	5	1
40 to 42	15	4
43 to 45	4	5
46 to 48	3	3
49 to 51	5	6
52 to 54	20	12
55 to 57	34	12
58 to 60	18	14
61 to 63	0	0
64 to 66	0	5
67 to 69	12	18
70 to 72	6	4
73 to 75	16	8
76 to 78	17	13
79 to 81	2	37
82 to 84	7	9
85 to 87	22	27
88 to 90	6	10
91 to 93	3	8
94 to 96	4	6
97 to 99	2	2
100 to 102	0	3
103 to 105	0	1
106 to 108	0	3
109 to 111	4	8
112 to 114	17	44
115 to 117	2	7
118 to 120	0	1
121 to 123	14	6
124 to 126	17	49
127 to 129	0	0
130 to 132	9	22
133 to 134	0	4

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

ROWENA DRAKE: Forgive me. I hoped seeing all these faces might make it hurt less. OLGA SEMINOFF: Ms. Rowena. Your guest is here.

MS. REYNOLDS: This one will be very sad. ROWENA DRAKE: Ms. Reynolds. Everything is prepared in the salon as your assistant specified. MS. REYNOLDS: So noisy. Your home. ROWENA DRAKE: They’ll all be gone before we begin.

MS. REYNOLDS: Ariadne Oliver. My nemesis. ARIADNE OLIVER: We meet again. “The Unholy Ms. Joyce Reynolds.” MS. REYNOLDS: The press coined that one. Not sure if I like it.

ARIADNE OLIVER: Dramatic? -- ridiculous -- MS. REYNOLDS: An old crone --

MS. REYNOLDS: No one touch me until the trance is ended. The effects are painful. MS. REYNOLDS: Alicia Drake. I believe it was you who called to me. We invite you. MS. REYNOLDS: Too many spirits. This house is spilling with the dead. Some souls can’t let go. DESDEMONA: Do we stop, Ms. Reynolds?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 44 are women's.

301 lines from women, 390 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 10 men in the cast. 6 women and 7 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 13 of 748. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 24 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 42% of the words (3,846), men 58% (5,305). Women have 44% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 42% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh (man)
Written by: Michael Green (man)
From the novel by: Agatha Christie (woman)
Produced by: Simon Kinberg (man), Ridley Scott (man), Judy Hofflund (woman), Kenneth Branagh (man)
Shot by: Haris Zambarloukos (man)
Edited by: Lucy Donaldson (woman)
Music by: Hildur Guðnadóttir (woman)
Production design by: John Paul Kelly (man)
Costumes by: Sammy Sheldon (woman)
Cast by: Lucy Bevan (woman)