Passes the Bechdel test
An Education
2010. Directed by Lone Scherfig, written by Lynn Barber and Nick Hornby.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 22 scenes out of 122. -
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
In the early 1960's, sixteen-year-old Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) lives with her parents in the London suburb of Twickenham. On her father Jack's (Alfred Molina's) wishes, everything that Jenny does is in the sole pursuit of being accepted into Oxford, as he wants her to have a better life than him. Jenny is bright, pretty, hard working, but also naturally gifted. The only problems her father may perceive in her life is her issue with learning Latin, and her dating a boy named Graham (Matthew Beard), who is nice, but socially awkward. Jenny's life changes after she meets David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard), a man over twice her age. David goes out of his way to show Jenny and her family that his interest in her is not improper and that he wants solely to expose her to cultural activities which she enjoys. Jenny quickly gets accustomed to the life to which David and his constant companions, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike), have shown her, and Jenny and David's relationship does move on to becoming a romantic one. However, Jenny slowly learns more about David, and by association, Danny and Helen, and specifically how they make their money. Jenny has to decide if what she learns about them and leading such a life is worth forgoing her plans of higher education at Oxford.
- Released
- 05 Feb 2010
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 85 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 36 wins & 96 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jenny 336 lines, woman
- David 202 lines, man
- Jack 133 lines, man
- Marjorie 60 lines, woman
- Helen 53 lines, woman
- Danny 48 lines, man
- Tina 38 lines, woman
- Miss Stubbs 34 lines, woman
- Headmistress 25 lines, woman
- Hattie 24 lines, woman
Full cast, 29 people
- Carey Mulligan as Jenny Mellor
- Peter Sarsgaard as David Goldman
- Dominic Cooper as Danny
- Rosamund Pike as Helen
- Olivia Williams as Miss Stubbs
- Alfred Molina as Jack Mellor
- Cara Seymour as Majorie
- Sally Hawkins as Sarah Goldman
- Emma Thompson as Headmistress
- James Norton as Student
- Amanda Fairbank-Hynes as Hattie
- William Melling as Small Boy #1
- Connor Catchpole as Small Boy #2
- Matthew Beard as Graham
- Ellie Kendrick as Tina
- Nick Sampson as Auctioneer
- Bel Parker as Small Girl
- Luis Soto as Rachman
- Olenka Wrzesniewski as Shakespeare Girl #1
- Bryony Wadsworth as Shakespeare Girl #2
- Ashley Taylor-Rhys as Petrol Attendant
- Beth Rowley as Nightclub Singer
- Ben Castle as Nightclub Band
- Mark Edwards as Nightclub Band
- Tom Rees-Roberts as Nightclub Band
- Arne Somogyi as Nightclub Band
- Paul Pilot as Nightclub Band
- Phil Wilkinson as Nightclub Band
- Kate Duchêne as Latin Teacher
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 122
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 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 19 |
| 10 to 12 | 10 | 10 |
| 13 to 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 16 to 18 | 31 | 9 |
| 19 to 21 | 39 | 37 |
| 22 to 24 | 14 | 19 |
| 25 to 27 | 21 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 3 |
| 31 to 33 | 5 | 24 |
| 34 to 36 | 25 | 20 |
| 37 to 39 | 8 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 20 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 16 | 1 |
| 49 to 51 | 17 | 11 |
| 52 to 54 | 8 | 11 |
| 55 to 57 | 11 | 5 |
| 58 to 60 | 25 | 22 |
| 61 to 63 | 43 | 9 |
| 64 to 66 | 15 | 32 |
| 67 to 69 | 17 | 10 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 37 | 4 |
| 79 to 81 | 9 | 20 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 5 |
| 85 to 87 | 14 | 13 |
| 88 to 90 | 34 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 13 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 29 | 14 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 6 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 7 |
| 103 to 105 | 18 | 20 |
| 106 to 108 | 23 | 8 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 4 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 16 | 3 |
| 118 to 120 | 11 | 0 |
| 121 to 122 | 16 | 3 |
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.
MARJORIE: Objection noted. Jenny? JENNY: Noted.
JENNY: I don't know. I'm sure we could find out. MARJORIE: It's in Westminster. Just around the corner from the Abbey.
MARJORIE: Have a nice time. JENNY: Bye.
JENNY: I've only got....Well, I think it's just called `Juliette Greco'. The one with the eyes on the sleeve. I saved up and got my French conversa… HELEN: You've got a French conversation teacher? JENNY: Yes. HELEN: Is that why you suddenly speak French for no reason?
HELEN: Certainly not me. JENNY: It's beautiful. Do you play?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 59 are women's.
588 lines from women, 412 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 12 men in the cast. 8 women and 5 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 18 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 55% of the words (5,851), men 45% (4,711). Women have 59% 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
52
Two men
43
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 48% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Lone Scherfig (woman)
- Written by
- Nick Hornby (man)
- Produced by
- Finola Dwyer (woman), Amanda Posey (woman)
- Shot by
- John de Borman (man)
- Edited by
- Barney Pilling (man)
- Music by
- Paul Englishby (man)
- Production design by
- Andrew McAlpine (man)
- Costumes by
- Odile Dicks-Mireaux (woman)
- Cast by
- Lucy Bevan (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Carey Mulligan 24, Rosamund Pike 30, Sally Hawkins 33, Olivia Williams 41, Cara Seymour 45, Emma Thompson 50
Men
James Norton 24, Dominic Cooper 31, Peter Sarsgaard 38, Alfred Molina 56
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $26.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 122 scenes and 1,005 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
