Passes the Bechdel test
Basic Instinct
1992. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Joe Eszterhas.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 139. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
A former rock star, Johnny Boz, is brutally killed during sex, and the case is assigned to detective Nick Curran of the SFPD. During the investigation, Nick meets Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist who was Boz's girlfriend when he died. Catherine proves to be a very clever and manipulative woman, and though Nick is more or less convinced that she murdered Boz, he is unable to find any evidence. Later, when Nilsen, Nick's rival in the police, is killed, Nick suspects of Catherine's involvement in it. He then starts to play a dangerous lust-filled mind game with Catherine to nail her, but as their relationship progresses, the body count rises and contradicting evidences force Nick to start questioning his own suspicions about Catherine's guilt.
- Released
- 20 Mar 1992
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 43 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 6 wins & 23 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Nick 316 lines, man
- Catherine 210 lines, woman
- Gus 90 lines, man
- Beth 76 lines, woman
- Lt. Walker 62 lines, man
- Andrews 15 lines, man
- The Woman 14 lines, woman
- Detective 12 lines, man
- An I.A. Man 11 lines, man
- Talcott 10 lines, man
Full cast, 47 people
- Michael Douglas as Detective Nick Curran
- Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell
- George Dzundza as Gus
- Jeanne Tripplehorn as Dr. Beth Garner
- Denis Arndt as Lieutenant Walker
- Leilani Sarelle as Roxy
- Bruce A. Young as Andrews
- Chelcie Ross as Captain Talcott
- Dorothy Malone as Hazel Dobkins
- Wayne Knight as John Correli
- Daniel von Bargen as Lieutenant Nilsen
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Lamott
- Benjamin Mouton as Harrigan
- Jack McGee as Sheriff
- Bill Cable as Johnny Boz
- Stephen Rowe as Internal Affairs Investigator
- Mitch Pileggi as Internal Affairs Investigator
- Mary Pat Gleason as Juvenile Officer
- Freda Foh Shen as Berkeley Registrar
- William Duff-Griffin as Dr. Myron
- James Rebhorn as Dr. McElwaine
- David Wells as Polygraph Examiner
- Bradford English as Campus Policeman
- Mary Ann Rodgers as Nurse
- Adilah Barnes as Nurse
- Irene Olga López as Maid
- Juanita Jennings as Receptionist
- Craig C. Lewis as Bartender | Police Bar
- Michael David Lally as Detective
- Peter Appel as Detective
- Michael Halton as Bartender | Country Western Bar
- Keith McDaniel as Featured Dancer
- Eric Poppick as Coroner's Guy
- Ron Cacas as Policeman
- Kayla Blake as Roxy's Friend
- Ken Liebenson as Doo Wah Riders
- Lindy Rasmusson as Doo Wah Riders
- Byron Berline as Doo Wah Riders
- Eddie Dunbar as Doo Wah Riders
- Tom McKibbin as Doo Wah Riders
- Julie Bond as Hand Puppet Model
- Anne Lockhart as Disco Patron (uncredited)
- Patricia Anne Isgate-Hayward as Classmate (uncredited)
- Pui Fan Lee as Mrs. Rollins (uncredited)
- Andy Rolfes as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Bob Sallese as Internal Affairs Detective (uncredited
- Damon Stout as Disco Patron (uncredited)
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 139
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 35 |
| 7 to 9 | 24 | 24 |
| 10 to 12 | 11 | 30 |
| 13 to 15 | 3 | 23 |
| 16 to 18 | 16 | 15 |
| 19 to 21 | 12 | 13 |
| 22 to 24 | 17 | 18 |
| 25 to 27 | 16 | 14 |
| 28 to 30 | 18 | 47 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 9 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 22 | 20 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 10 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 17 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 31 |
| 49 to 51 | 6 | 19 |
| 52 to 54 | 35 | 25 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 4 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 3 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 15 | 39 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 4 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 12 |
| 88 to 90 | 6 | 7 |
| 91 to 93 | 20 | 17 |
| 94 to 96 | 2 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 4 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 8 |
| 103 to 105 | 14 | 9 |
| 106 to 108 | 13 | 14 |
| 109 to 111 | 7 | 20 |
| 112 to 114 | 12 | 12 |
| 115 to 117 | 10 | 28 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 7 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 1 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 0 |
| 127 to 129 | 5 | 7 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 14 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 0 |
| 136 to 138 | 3 | 0 |
| 139 to 139 | 3 | 2 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
CATHERINE: Honey, why don't you go in the car? I'll be right there. HAZEL: Goodbye, Shooter.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 36 are women's.
311 lines from women, 565 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 27 men in the cast. 5 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 38 of 879.
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 34% of the words (2,872), men 66% (5,519). Women have 36% 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
2
Two men
45
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Paul Verhoeven (man)
- Written by
- Joe Eszterhas (man)
- Produced by
- Alan Marshall (man)
- Shot by
- Jan de Bont (man)
- Edited by
- Frank J. Urioste (man)
- Music by
- Jerry Goldsmith (man)
- Production design by
- Terence Marsh (man)
- Costumes by
- Ellen Mirojnick (woman)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 16 men, 15 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 16 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 7 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Leilani Sarelle 25, Jeanne Tripplehorn 28, Sharon Stone 34, Dorothy Malone 68
Men
Bruce A. Young 35, Wayne Knight 36, George Dzundza 46, Michael Douglas 47, Chelcie Ross 49, Denis Arndt 53
Exhibit H: the money
It made 7.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $49 million
- Box office
- $353 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 139 scenes and 879 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
