Passes the Bechdel test
Argo
2012. Directed by Ben Affleck, written by Chris Terrio and Tony Mendez and Joshuah Bearman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 302. -
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
After Iranian militants stormed and took control of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979 taking 56 Americans as hostages, six Americans managed to get away and took refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. After two months of the Canadians putting their lives on the line everyday, the CIA and the US State Department try to come up with a plan to get their people out. Tony Mendez is an "ex filtration" specialist who proposes that they pose as a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a science fiction movie called Argo. Using Hollywood connections, Mendez creates a back story for the movie - ads in Variety, casting calls, inviting he media to a production launch - and then heads off to Iran to lead the six Americans out.
- Released
- 12 Oct 2012
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 86 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 97 wins & 156 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mendez 149 lines, man
- O'Donnell 68 lines, man
- Siegel 48 lines, man
- Chambers 34 lines, man
- Bob Anders 25 lines, man
- J Stafford 23 lines
- Taylor 19 lines
- Mark Lijek 13 lines, man
- Malinov 12 lines, man
- Pender 12 lines, man
Full cast, 120 people
- Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez
- Bryan Cranston as Jack O'Donnell
- Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel
- John Goodman as John Chambers
- Victor Garber as Ken Taylor
- Tate Donovan as Bob Anders
- Clea DuVall as Cora Lijek
- Scoot McNairy as Joe Stafford
- Rory Cochrane as Lee Schatz
- Christopher Denham as Mark Lijek
- Kerry Bishé as Kathy Stafford
- Kyle Chandler as Hamilton Jordan
- Chris Messina as Malinov
- Željko Ivanek as Robert Pender
- Titus Welliver as Bates
- Keith Szarabajka as Adam Engell
- Bob Gunton as Cyrus Vance
- Richard Kind as Max Klein
- Richard Dillane as OSS Officer Nicholls
- Omid Abtahi as Reza Borhani
- Page Leong as Pat Taylor
- Farshad Farahat as Azizi Checkpoint #3
- Sheila Vand as Sahar
- Karina Logue as Elizabeth Ann Swift
- Ryan Ahern as Sgt. Sickmann
- Bill Tangradi as Alan B. Golacinski
- Jamie McShane as William J. Daugherty
- Matthew Glave as Col. Charles W. Scott
- Roberto Garcia as Sgt. William Gallegos
- Christopher Stanley as Thomas L. Ahern, Jr.
- Jon Woodward Kirby as Fred Kupke
- Alborz Basiratmand as Student with Poster
- Ruty Rutenberg as Marine #1
- Michael Woolston as Marine #2
- Sharareh Sedghi as Lady with Radio
- Bobby Zegar as Tear Gas Student
- Victor McCay as Malick
- Matt Nolan as Peter Genco
- J.R. Cacia as Brice
- Bill Kalmenson as Hal Saunders
- Rob Brownstein as Landon Butler
- David Sullivan as Jon Titterton
- Jean Carol as Jordan's Secretary
- Michael Cassidy as Jordan's Analyst
- John Boyd as Lamont
- Yuriy Sardarov as Rossi
- Nikka Far as Tehran Mary
- Aidan Sussman as Ian Mendez
- Barry Livingston as David Marmor
- Ali Saam as Ali Khalkhali
- Araz Vahid Ebrahim Nia as Moradi
- Scott Anthony Leet as The Minotaur
- Ashley Wood as Space Lab Nurse
- Rob Tepper as Film Director
- Ray Porter as First A.D.
- Stephen J. Lattanzi as PA
- Danielle Barbosa as Lester's Housekeeper
- Michael Parks as Jack Kirby
- Eric Scott Cooper as Publicist
- Adrienne Barbeau as Nina / Serksi the Gallactic Witch
- Tom Lenk as Variety Reporter
- Nelson Franklin as LA Times Reporter
- Kelly Curran as Princess Aleppa
- Mark Rhino Smith as Evil Villain
- Scott Elrod as Achilles Crux
- Bill Blair as Humanoid Robot
- Dastan Khalili as Green Jacket
- Joseph S. Griffo as Nestor the Android
- Andrew Varenhorst as Blue Monster
- Amitis Frances Ariano as Persian Dancer
- Ali Fiori as Sci Fi Body Suit Girl
- Taies Farzan as Middle Class Iranian Woman
- Florans Atlantis as Middle Class Iranian Man
- Rafi Pitts as Iranian Consulate Official
- Allegra Carpenter as British Airways Flight Attendant
- Bobby Naderi as Airport Husband
- Ray Haratian as Immigration Officer
- Mehrdad Sarlak as Immigration Officer
- Soheil Tasbihchi as Immigration Officer
- Hovik Gharibian as Immigration Officer
- Dorianne Pahlavan as Airport Hysterical Wife
- Houshang Touzie as Deputy Minister of Islamic Guidance
- Peter Henry Schroeder as Producer
- Ali Farkhonde as Tehran Car Rental Man
- Sahm McGlynn as Bearded Fundamentalist in Bazaar
- Muhammed Cangören as Bazaar Shopkeeper
- Asghar Allah Veirdi Zadeh as Bazaar Angry Man
- Leyla Beysulen as Angry Woman
- Lindsey Ginter as Hedley Donovan
- Tim Quill as Alan Sosa
- Larry Sullivan as Engell's Secretary
- Danilo Di Julio as Sgt. Gauthier
- Fanshen Cox as White House Operator
- Tehmina Sunny as Swissair Ticketing Agent
- Amir K as Passport Official
- Baris Deli as Carpet Factory Komiteh
- Cas Anvar as Revolutionary Guard
- Bahram Khosraviani as Revolutionary Guard
- Sam Sheikholeslami as Revolutionary Guard
- Saba Sarem as Revolutionary Guard
- Puya Abbassi as Revolutionary Guard
- Reza Mir as Komiteh Reza
- Jozef Fahey as Lock Up PA
- Annie Little as Swissair Gate Agent
- Fahim Fazli as Komiteh Subordinate
- Brandon Tabassi as Young Komiteh at Airport
- John Hans Tester as Swissair Pilot
- Alex Schemmer as Swissair Co-Pilot
- Yan Feldman as Air Traffic Controller
- Nancy Stelle as Swissair Flight Attendant
- Maz Siam as Iraqi Border Guard
- Ken Edling as Assistant Secretary of State
- Deborah Deimel Bean as State Department Official
- Michael Chieffo as CIA Archives Officer
- Taylor Schilling as Christine Mendez
- Philip Baker Hall as CIA Director Stansfield Turner (uncredited)
- Eli Jane as Swissair Stewardess (uncredited)
- Lucas N. Hall as Protestor (uncredited)
- Jimmy Carter as Lui-même (images d'archives)
- Victoria Charters as Swissair Gate Rep
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 7 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 302
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 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 to 14 | 1 | 4 |
| 15 to 21 | 0 | 5 |
| 22 to 28 | 3 | 1 |
| 29 to 35 | 1 | 5 |
| 36 to 42 | 1 | 29 |
| 43 to 49 | 0 | 13 |
| 50 to 56 | 3 | 40 |
| 57 to 63 | 0 | 11 |
| 64 to 70 | 1 | 16 |
| 71 to 77 | 2 | 26 |
| 78 to 84 | 0 | 24 |
| 85 to 91 | 0 | 34 |
| 92 to 98 | 1 | 31 |
| 99 to 105 | 1 | 4 |
| 106 to 112 | 0 | 10 |
| 113 to 119 | 0 | 20 |
| 120 to 126 | 0 | 7 |
| 127 to 133 | 0 | 9 |
| 134 to 140 | 0 | 18 |
| 141 to 147 | 0 | 11 |
| 148 to 154 | 2 | 13 |
| 155 to 161 | 2 | 7 |
| 162 to 168 | 1 | 12 |
| 169 to 175 | 6 | 10 |
| 176 to 182 | 3 | 12 |
| 183 to 189 | 4 | 3 |
| 190 to 196 | 2 | 29 |
| 197 to 203 | 1 | 2 |
| 204 to 210 | 0 | 10 |
| 211 to 217 | 1 | 18 |
| 218 to 224 | 0 | 10 |
| 225 to 231 | 2 | 8 |
| 232 to 238 | 0 | 4 |
| 239 to 245 | 0 | 8 |
| 246 to 252 | 0 | 2 |
| 253 to 259 | 0 | 1 |
| 260 to 266 | 0 | 0 |
| 267 to 273 | 0 | 0 |
| 274 to 280 | 0 | 0 |
| 281 to 287 | 0 | 4 |
| 288 to 294 | 1 | 15 |
| 295 to 301 | 1 | 14 |
| 302 to 302 | 0 | 1 |
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.
KATHY STAFFORD: You okay? CORA LIJEK: -- if your family's hungry, you don't want to hear about international law --
ON KATHY: Her claustrophobia as the crowd closes in -- an ANGRY BAZAARI WOMAN sticks her finger in Kathy's face -- CORA LIJEK: Canada... Ca-na-da...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 7 are women's.
40 lines from women, 502 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 71 men in the cast. 11 women and 52 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 619.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 99 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (467), men 93% (6,221).
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
4
Two men
51
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ben Affleck (man)
- Written by
- Chris Terrio (man)
- Produced by
- George Clooney (man), Ben Affleck (man), Grant Heslov (man)
- Shot by
- Rodrigo Prieto (man)
- Edited by
- William Goldenberg (man)
- Music by
- Alexandre Desplat (man)
- Production design by
- Sharon Seymour (woman)
- Costumes by
- Jacqueline West (woman)
- Cast by
- Lora Kennedy (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
3 women, 11 men, 26 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 6 men, 19 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 2 men, 18 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 11 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 7 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 13 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Clea DuVall 35
Men
Christopher Denham 27, Scoot McNairy 34, Ben Affleck 40, Rory Cochrane 40, Tate Donovan 49, Bryan Cranston 56, John Goodman 60, Victor Garber 63, Alan Arkin 78
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $44.5 million
- Box office
- $232 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 302 scenes and 619 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
