Passes the Bechdel test

Agnes of God

Name: Agnes of God
Released: 1985

1985. Directed by Norman Jewison, written by John Pielmeier.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 18 scenes out of 94.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

The film

When a dead newborn is found wrapped in bloody sheets in a wastebasket in the bedroom of a young novitiate, psychiatrist Martha Livingston is called in to determine if the seemingly innocent novice, who knows nothing of sex or birth, is competent to stand trial for the baby's murder. While searching for the answer that her supervisors want, Dr. Livingston finds herself inevitably drawn into searching for the truth about the baby's conception and death. Despite the lack of cooperation that she receives from her own organization and the church itself, she eventually discovers more than she may have bargained for.

Released: 27 Sep 1985
Genres: Drama, Mystery
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.6 / 10
Metascore: 52 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 2 wins & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Martha 357 lines, woman
Agnes 192 lines, woman
Mother Miriam 186 lines, woman
Leveau 16 lines, man
Larry 11 lines, man
Mama 7 lines, woman
Monsignor 7 lines, man
Eve 6 lines, woman
In Flashback 5 lines
Sister Anne 5 lines, woman

Full cast, 39 people

Jane Fonda as Dr. Martha Louise Livingston
Meg Tilly as Sœur Agnès
Anne Bancroft as Mère Miriam / Mariam Ruth
Anne Pitoniak as La mère du Dr. Livingston
Winston Rekert as Det. Larry Langevin
Gratien Gélinas as Père Martineau
Guy Hoffmann as Justice Joseph Leveau
Gabriel Arcand as Évèque
Françoise Faucher as Eve LeClaire
Jacques Tourangeau as Eugene Lyon
Janine Fluet as Sœur Marguerite
Deborah Grover as Sœur Anne
Michele George as Sœur Susanna
Samantha Langevin as Sœur Jeannine
Jacqueline Blais as Sœur David Marie
Françoise Berd as Sœur Thérèse
Mimi D'Estée as Sœur Elizabette
Rita Tuckett as Sœur Geraldine
Lillian Graham as Sœur Madeline Marie
Norma Dell'Agnese as Sœur Geneviève
Muguette Moreau as Sœur Luke
Janice Bryan as Sœur Mary Joseph
Agnes Middleton as Sœur Paul
France Arbour as Housekeeper
Laurel Lyle as Helen la réceptioniste
Victor Désy as Archiviste
Charlotte Laurier as Jeune prostitué
Peter Langley as Famille de Sœur Geneviève
Nicole Marie Abbat as Famille de Sœur Geneviève
Matthew Armstrong as Famille de Sœur Geneviève
Chava Mandlsohn as Famille de Sœur Geneviève
Charles S. Pottie as Famille de Sœur Geneviève
Gerry Huckstep as Paramedic
Marc Denis as Newscaster
Herbert Luft as Reporter TV
André Lacoste as Patient masculin
Jennifer Jewison as Patient féminin
Carole Chatel as Techniciène de labo
Daniel Tremblay as Détective de Police

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 94

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	0	0
5 to 6	0	0
7 to 8	0	0
9 to 10	1	0
11 to 12	0	0
13 to 14	0	0
15 to 16	8	6
17 to 18	51	0
19 to 20	0	0
21 to 22	72	0
23 to 24	50	0
25 to 26	0	0
27 to 28	0	0
29 to 30	6	2
31 to 32	25	0
33 to 34	49	0
35 to 36	12	0
37 to 38	1	1
39 to 40	3	2
41 to 42	0	0
43 to 44	16	4
45 to 46	49	0
47 to 48	44	0
49 to 50	31	0
51 to 52	7	7
53 to 54	0	0
55 to 56	35	0
57 to 58	26	0
59 to 60	7	10
61 to 62	33	0
63 to 64	38	0
65 to 66	62	0
67 to 68	2	3
69 to 70	0	0
71 to 72	0	0
73 to 74	18	0
75 to 76	0	0
77 to 78	8	8
79 to 80	33	0
81 to 82	20	0
83 to 84	3	0
85 to 86	2	0
87 to 88	3	0
89 to 90	44	0
91 to 92	1	3
93 to 94	2	0

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.

MARTHA: Are you dictating my position to me? We're getting into some sticky legal territories here. EVE: Martha, all we're saying is, no-one wants this to come to trial, not the Church, not the Crown... least of all me. MARTHA: Eve, she strangled a baby! EVE: Nobody is interested in sending a nun to prison.

MOTHER MIRIAM: Well... what do you think? Is she totally bananas or merely slightly off centre... or maybe she's perfectly sane and just a very good liar. MARTHA: What's your opinion? MOTHER MIRIAM: I believe Agnes is different. MARTHA: From other nuns... Yes I... I've noticed.

SISTER ANNE: The convent was built for over fifty. Not many of us left... just us and the chickens. MARTHA: How do you survive? SISTER ANNE: Oh, we own the land around here. But we rent it out. We keep a few acres for ourselves, some wheat, corn, some vegetables. MARTHA: Well that's a lot of land. You must have help. Do you have field hands that help you?

MARTHA: You liked Sister Paul? AGNES: She was kind to me. She told me I was beautiful. MARTHA: What else did she tell you? AGNES: She said all of God's angels would want to sleep beside me if they could. I liked that.

MARTHA: Sister Paul was in her eighties? Did she climb up here often? AGNES: No, only when she felt like it. She brought me up here last winter and the next day she died. MARTHA: No wonder... wait... Agnes... Agnes how do you feel about babies? AGNES: Oh, they frighten me, I'm afraid I'll drop them. They have a soft spot on their heads and if you drop them so they land on their heads they …