Passes the Bechdel test

Antebellum

Name: Antebellum
Released: 2020

2020. Directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, written by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
14 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 48.
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

Successful author Veronica Henley finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it's too late.

Released: 18 Sep 2020
Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.8 / 10
Metascore: 43 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Veronica 123 lines, woman
Jasper 47 lines, man
Him 44 lines, man
Julia 35 lines, woman
Eden 30 lines, woman
Sarah 21 lines, woman
Nick 19 lines, man
Daniel 17 lines, man
Eli 17 lines, man
Elizabeth 14 lines, woman

Full cast, 34 people

Janelle Monáe as Veronica / Eden
Eric Lange as Him / Senator Denton
Jena Malone as Elizabeth
Jack Huston as Captain Jasper
Kiersey Clemons as Julia
Gabourey Sidibe as Dawn
Marque Richardson as Nick
Robert Aramayo as Daniel
Lily Cowles as Sarah
Tongayi Chirisa as Eli / Professor Tarasai
Grace Junot as Camille
T.C. Matherne as Purcell
Devyn A. Tyler as Melanie
Caroline Cole as Hotel Concierge
Choppy Guillotte as Sam
Betsy Borrego as Laura
Dayna Stephens as Yoga Teacher
Christine V. Hernandez as Restaurant Patron
Kimani Bradley as Enslaved Male
Bernard Hocke as Talking Head
Todd Voltz as Strange Man with Flowers
Victoria Blade as Rebecca
Lyle Brocato as Tall Man
Eric Stratemeier as Gus
Bill Martin Williams as Overseer #1
Trula M. Marcus as Joy
Arabella Landrum as Little Blonde Girl
Christine VonRobarie as Restaurant Patron
Gregory Hobson as Reporter
Chad Governale as FBI Agent
Michael Dominey as Confederate Soldier
Hick Cheramie as Hero Confederate
William Buster Benefield as FBI Agent
Achok Majak as Amara (Ghanian Queen)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 48

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 1	0	0
2 to 2	2	3
3 to 3	0	0
4 to 4	3	9
5 to 5	2	7
6 to 6	2	1
7 to 7	5	11
8 to 8	3	7
9 to 9	18	1
10 to 10	0	0
11 to 11	2	17
12 to 12	1	0
13 to 13	14	10
14 to 14	2	3
15 to 15	10	13
16 to 16	0	0
17 to 17	4	7
18 to 18	0	0
19 to 19	9	3
20 to 20	6	6
21 to 21	45	7
22 to 22	1	1
23 to 23	10	3
24 to 24	20	0
25 to 25	2	0
26 to 26	7	0
27 to 27	0	0
28 to 28	3	0
29 to 29	13	0
30 to 30	4	0
31 to 31	6	2
32 to 32	20	1
33 to 33	2	0
34 to 34	0	0
35 to 35	2	0
36 to 36	1	0
37 to 37	2	0
38 to 38	0	0
39 to 39	3	0
40 to 40	0	0
41 to 41	2	0
42 to 42	0	6
43 to 43	1	5
44 to 44	0	11
45 to 45	1	0
46 to 46	2	2
47 to 47	0	0
48 to 48	31	36

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.

JULIA: Psst… what is… EDEN: Quiet!

EDEN: You ok? JULIA: Please. EDEN: I know. Be patient. EDEN: Just keep going. Keep going.

JULIA: Why? I just don’t understand. EDEN: Shhh. It’s ok, it’s ok. JULIA: It’s not ok!

SARAH: Veeeeee! I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to give you a scare. VERONICA: Sarah Beee! No! Not at all! Travel has me jumpy, I guess. SARAH: You. Look. Gorgeous. What the hell are you doing… other than making us all look less-than? VERONICA: My dear, no one’s making you look ANYTHING less than exquisite. Trust.

VERONICA: Camille… so great to see you! CAMILLE: Ugh, Veronica. Thank God. I need to speak to a sane, competent person; desperately. VERONICA: Summit drama? CAMILLE: Not even the half of it. But that is none of your concern. All you need to be concerned with is helping to enlighten us all with your infini…

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 60 are women's.

261 lines from women, 172 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

14 women and 18 men in the cast. 8 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 456. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 17 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 59% of the words (3,040), men 41% (2,142). Women have 60% 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

None of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Gerard Bush (man), Christopher Renz (man)
Written by: Christopher Renz (man), Gerard Bush (man)
Produced by: Gerard Bush (man), Christopher Renz (man), Zev Foreman (man), Raymond Mansfield (man), Sean McKittrick (man), Lezlie Wills (gender not listed)
Shot by: Pedro Luque (man)
Edited by: John Axelrad (man)
Music by: Nate "Rocket" Wonder (gender not listed), Roman GianArthur (gender not listed)
Production design by: Jeremy Woodward (man)