Passes the Bechdel test

Alien: Covenant

Name: Alien: Covenant
Released: 2017

2017. Directed by Ridley Scott, written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett and Jack Paglen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 160.
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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

In 2104, almost eleven years after the ill-fated expedition to the distant moon LV-223 in Prometheus (2012), the deep-space colonisation vessel USCSS Covenant is on course for the remote planet Origae-6. Carrying over 2,000 colonists in cryogenic hibernation, they seek to build a new world. Instead, a rogue transmission entices the crew to a nearby habitable planet that resembles Earth. But nothing can prepare the ambitious crew for another disaster in uncharted territory. As the peaceful exploratory operation turns into a frantic rescue mission, biological foes beyond human comprehension threaten the future before it has even begun. In the depths of space, terror reveals its hideous face. Has anyone ever set foot on the mysterious planet and lived to tell the tale?

Released: 19 May 2017
Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 65 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 19 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Walter 116 lines, man
Daniels 113 lines, woman
David 99 lines, man
Oram 73 lines, man
Tennessee 68 lines, man
Faris 39 lines, woman
Ricks 25 lines, man
Mother 24 lines, woman
Upworth 22 lines, woman
Karine 20 lines, woman

Full cast, 21 people

Michael Fassbender as David / Walter
Katherine Waterston as Daniels
Billy Crudup as Oram
Danny McBride as Tennessee
Demián Bichir as Lope
Carmen Ejogo as Karine
Jussie Smollett as Ricks
Callie Hernandez as Upworth
Amy Seimetz as Faris
Nathaniel Dean as Hallett
Alexander England as Ankor
Benjamin Rigby as Ledward
Uli Latukefu as Cole
Tess Haubrich as Rosenthal
Lorelei King as 'Mother' (voice)
Goran D. Kleut as Xenomorph / Neomorph
Andrew Crawford as Neomorph
Tom O'Sullivan as David / Walter Double
James Franco as Jacob Branson (uncredited)
Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland (uncredited)
Noomi Rapace as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 160

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 4	1	0
5 to 8	6	6
9 to 12	2	3
13 to 16	13	33
17 to 20	9	12
21 to 24	13	12
25 to 28	7	15
29 to 32	8	11
33 to 36	5	8
37 to 40	4	0
41 to 44	6	3
45 to 48	3	4
49 to 52	4	2
53 to 56	7	19
57 to 60	5	7
61 to 64	2	6
65 to 68	7	6
69 to 72	14	6
73 to 76	12	3
77 to 80	5	6
81 to 84	1	1
85 to 88	2	3
89 to 92	4	22
93 to 96	1	3
97 to 100	8	46
101 to 104	1	4
105 to 108	3	26
109 to 112	5	10
113 to 116	6	18
117 to 120	7	64
121 to 124	6	16
125 to 128	1	8
129 to 132	1	14
133 to 136	0	4
137 to 140	6	6
141 to 144	16	10
145 to 148	2	2
149 to 152	7	3
153 to 156	0	0
157 to 160	8	10

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.

DANIELS: The crew is made up of couples. That was the whole point ... Everyone but me now. DANIELS: I thought you might know something about being alone. FARIS: Hey, Danny. DANIELS: Thanks for coming.

FARIS: God damn. It’s just like Earth... DANIELS: We’ll see, right? FARIS: What I wouldn’t give to feel a little ocean breeze, catch me some waves...

UPWORTH: Everything looking good down there? FARIS: All good, Covenant. Expect to hit upper atmosphere in five ... Might want to hang on in the back, we’re about to-- FARIS: Covenant? You read us?

UPWORTH: - LANDER, DO YOU READ!? FARIS: Yeah, yeah. I read you. Think we’re... OK now. FARIS: Underway - looks like we got mountains.

FARIS: New power cells must have fritzed out. I’ll cycle ‘em while you’re gone. DANIELS: How far out are we?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.

218 lines from women, 432 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 14 men in the cast. 4 women and 13 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 663. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 40 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 30% of the words (1,933), men 70% (4,486). Women have 34% 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

2 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ridley Scott (man)
Written by: Dante Harper (man), John Logan (man)
Story by: Jack Paglen (man), Michael Green (man)
Produced by: Michael Schaefer (man), Mark Huffam (man), David Giler (man), Walter Hill (man), Ridley Scott (man)
Shot by: Dariusz Wolski (man)
Edited by: Pietro Scalia (man)
Music by: Jed Kurzel (man)
Production design by: Chris Seagers (man)
Costumes by: Janty Yates (woman)
Cast by: Carmen Cuba (woman)