Fails the Bechdel test
Badlands
1974. Directed by Terrence Malick, written by Terrence Malick.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
It's the late 1950s. Mid-twenty-something Kit is a restless and unfocused young man with a James Dean vibe and swagger which he has heard mentioned about him more than once. Fifteen year old Holly has a somewhat cold relationship with her sign painter father, if only because she is the primary reminder of his wife, who died of pneumonia when Holly was a child. The two meet when Holly and her father move from Texas to the small town where Kit lives, Fort Dupree, South Dakota. They slowly fall in love, something about which she cannot tell her father because of their age difference and Kit coming from the wrong side of the tracks. When he tries to take Holly away with him, Kit, on an impulse, shoots her father dead. After letting the initial emotions of the situation settle down, Holly decides voluntarily to go with Kit, they trying to make it look like they committed suicide in a house fire. But they soon learn that their plan did not work, there being a bounty on their heads. As such, Kit continues his murderous ways in order to protect the life he wants to eke out with Holly. She, on the other hand, wants to support Kit, especially as he begins to feel more and more trapped, but she may only be able to endure what looks increasingly to be a battle they cannot win as a couple. Through it all, they openly and privately muse about their philosophies on their life considering their current circumstance.
- Released
- 05 Jan 1974
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 94 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 4 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Kit 262 lines, man
- Holly 165 lines, woman
- Deputy 18 lines, man
- Cato 15 lines, man
- Father 12 lines, man
- Rich Man 10 lines, man
- Boy 8 lines, man
- Sheriff 6 lines, man
- Girl 5 lines, woman
- Roughneck 5 lines
Full cast, 18 people
- Martin Sheen as Kit Carruthers
- Sissy Spacek as Holly Sargis
- Warren Oates as Holly's Father
- Ramon Bieri as Cato
- Alan Vint as Deputy
- Gary Littlejohn as Sheriff
- John Carter as Rich Man
- Bryan Montgomery as Boy
- Gail Threlkeld as Girl
- Charles Fitzpatrick as Clerk
- John Womack Jr. as Trooper
- Howard Ragsdale as Boss
- Dona Baldwin as Maid
- Ben Bravo as Gas Attendant
- Terrence Malick as Caller at Rich Man's House (uncredited)
- Li Baolong as Chinese Kid (uncredited)
- Charlie Sheen as Boy Under Lamppost (uncredited)
- Emilio Estevez as Boy Under Lamppost (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 126
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 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 to 9 | 17 | 16 |
| 10 to 12 | 11 | 23 |
| 13 to 15 | 9 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 9 | 9 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 28 |
| 28 to 30 | 4 | 6 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 2 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 2 |
| 46 to 48 | 2 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 3 | 1 |
| 52 to 54 | 4 | 1 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 2 | 11 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 17 |
| 64 to 66 | 8 | 25 |
| 67 to 69 | 12 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 7 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 12 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 13 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 6 | 7 |
| 88 to 90 | 3 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 3 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 4 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 5 | 3 |
| 100 to 102 | 6 | 7 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 6 | 7 |
| 109 to 111 | 2 | 2 |
| 112 to 114 | 5 | 24 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 32 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 19 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 15 |
| 124 to 126 | 1 | 3 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 33 are women's.
170 lines from women, 340 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
2 women and 12 men in the cast. 2 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 52% of the words (3,240), men 48% (2,941). Women have 33% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
14
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Terrence Malick (man)
- Written by
- Terrence Malick (man)
- Produced by
- Terrence Malick (man)
- Shot by
- Brian Probyn (man), Tak Fujimoto (man), Stevan Larner (man)
- Edited by
- Robert Estrin (man)
- Music by
- George Aliceson Tipton (man)
- Costumes by
- Rosanna Norton (woman)
- Cast by
- Dianne Crittenden (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 23 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sissy Spacek 23
Men
Gary Littlejohn 27, Bryan Montgomery 27, Alan Vint 28, Martin Sheen 33, Ramon Bieri 44, Warren Oates 45, John Carter 45, Charles Fitzpatrick 48
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $300,000
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 126 scenes and 524 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
