Fails the Bechdel test

A Scanner Darkly

Name: A Scanner Darkly
Released: 2006

2006. Directed by Richard Linklater, written by Philip K. Dick and Richard Linklater.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
3 women characters. 2 of them speak.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

In a totalitarian society in a near future, the undercover detective Bob Arctor is working with a small time group of drug users trying to reach the big distributors of a brain-damaging drug called Substance D. His assignment is promoted by the recovery center New Path Corporation, and when Bob begins to lose his own identity and have schizophrenic behavior, he is submitted to tests to check his mental conditions.

Released: 28 Jul 2006
Genres: Animation, Comedy, Crime
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 73 / 100
Awards: 4 wins & 21 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Bob Arctor 269 lines, man
Jim Barris 139 lines, man
Fred 106 lines, man
Donna Hawthorne 100 lines, woman
Charles Freck 94 lines, man
Ernie Luckman 89 lines, man
Hank 66 lines, man
Medical Technician #1 24 lines, man
Medical Technician #2 19 lines, man
Mike 18 lines, man

Full cast, 31 people

Keanu Reeves as Bob Arctor
Robert Downey Jr. as James Barris
Woody Harrelson as Ernie Luckman
Winona Ryder as Donna Hawthorne
Rory Cochrane as Charles Freck
Mitch Baker as Brown Bear Lodge Host
Sean Allen as Additional Fred Scramble Suit Voice (voice)
Cliff Haby as Voice from Headquarters (voice)
Steven Chester Prince as Cop
Natasha Valdez as Waitress
Mark Turner as Additional Hank Scramble Suit Voice (voice)
Chamblee Ferguson as Medical Deputy #2
Angela Rawna as Medical Deputy #1
Eliza Stevens as Arctor's Daughter #1
Sarah Menchaca as Arctor's Daughter #2
Melody Chase as Arctor's Wife
Leif Anders as Freck Suicide Narrator (voice)
Turk Pipkin as Creature
Alex E. Jones as Street Prophet
Lisa Marie Newmyer as Connie
Wilbur Penn as Medical Officer #1
Ken Webster as Medical Officer #2
Hugo Perez as New Path Staff Member #1
Rommel Sulit as New Path Staff Member #2
Dameon Clarke as Mike
Ryan Melton as New Path Resident #1
Leila Plummer as New Path Resident #2
Jason Douglas as New Path Farm Manager
Marco Perella as Donald
Joe Basquez as Undercover Cop (uncredited)
Gary Teague as Brown Bear Lodge Member (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 136

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	1
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	0
10 to 12	0	0
13 to 15	0	0
16 to 18	0	3
19 to 21	0	7
22 to 24	0	27
25 to 27	16	27
28 to 30	14	18
31 to 33	2	9
34 to 36	11	28
37 to 39	0	45
40 to 42	0	10
43 to 45	3	7
46 to 48	0	4
49 to 51	0	17
52 to 54	0	5
55 to 57	0	12
58 to 60	3	31
61 to 63	0	12
64 to 66	0	29
67 to 69	4	113
70 to 72	0	63
73 to 75	0	16
76 to 78	0	30
79 to 81	21	19
82 to 84	24	21
85 to 87	0	37
88 to 90	11	14
91 to 93	3	5
94 to 96	0	4
97 to 99	0	4
100 to 102	0	62
103 to 105	0	8
106 to 108	0	2
109 to 111	0	42
112 to 114	0	52
115 to 117	19	22
118 to 120	2	4
121 to 123	0	8
124 to 126	4	14
127 to 129	5	9
130 to 132	7	24
133 to 135	0	26
136 to 136	0	9

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, 14 are women's.

149 lines from women, 900 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

3 women and 18 men in the cast. 2 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 72 of 1,128. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 198 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 15% of the words (1,970), men 85% (10,902). Women have 14% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Richard Linklater (man)
Written by: Richard Linklater (man)
From the novel by: Philip K. Dick (man)
Produced by: Palmer West (gender not listed), Anne Walker-McBay (woman), Jonah Smith (man), Tommy Pallotta (man), Erwin Stoff (man)
Shot by: Shane F. Kelly (man)
Edited by: Sandra Adair (woman)
Music by: Graham Reynolds (man)
Production design by: Bruce Curtis (man)
Costumes by: Kari Perkins (woman)
Cast by: Denise Chamian (woman)