Passes the Bechdel test
Beau Is Afraid
2023. Directed by Ari Aster, written by Ari Aster.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 120. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
With his mother's gloomy spectre looming over his entire life, grizzled outcast Beau has never made sense of his miserable existence. And perpetually baffled by reality and his conflicting urgent needs, the neurotic New Yorker gets a hearty slice of crippling anxiety and sheer paranoia when he sets foot in a strangely familiar war zone: his neighbourhood. But as the pill-popping hermit reluctantly embarks on a Sisyphean quest for answers, determined to reunite with his estranged mum at all costs, Beau must summon every last ounce of courage to confront everything that has kept him in the dark. To have a fighting chance of deciphering the sinister secrets that continue to rule his life, Beau must grapple with deep-seated phobias, deal with heavy guilt, and face the menacing parent. Because, in his case, love was a fiendish trap--the labyrinthine depths of maternal affection were only the means to an end. Now, the drugs don't work, and Beau is afraid. As the universe conspires against his conquest and the end draws near, will Beau be able to fight his inner demons for a change?
- Released
- 21 Apr 2023
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- 31 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Beau 481 lines, man
- Brennan 155 lines, man
- Grace 87 lines, woman
- Beau’S Mom 72 lines, woman
- Toni 66 lines, woman
- Therapist 63 lines, man
- Elaine 58 lines, woman
- Roger 29 lines, man
- Judy 19 lines
- Young Man 19 lines, man
Full cast, 70 people
- Joaquin Phoenix as Beau Wassermann
- Patti LuPone as Mona Wassermann
- Amy Ryan as Grace
- Nathan Lane as Roger
- Kylie Rogers as Toni
- Denis Ménochet as Jeeves
- Parker Posey as Elaine Bray
- Zoe Lister-Jones as Young Mona
- Armen Nahapetian as Teen Beau
- Julia Antonelli as Teen Elaine
- Stephen McKinley Henderson as Therapist
- Richard Kind as Dr. Cohen
- Hayley Squires as Penelope
- Julian Richings as Strange Man
- Bill Hader as UPS Guy
- Alicia Rosario as Liz
- James Cvetkovski as Boy Beau
- Catherine Bérubé as Hero Beau's Wife
- Stephanie Herrera as Martha
- Bradley Fisher as Birthday Boy Stab Man
- Peter Seaborne as Ceiling Man
- Michael Esper as Officer Johnson
- Manuel Tadros as Cheapo Depot Cashier
- Karl Roy as Man with Face Tattoos
- Marc-André Brisebois as Comatose Junkie
- Tyrone Benskin as Rattled Businessman
- Ernest-James Chuipka as Crazy Man
- Archie Madekwe as Laughing Man
- Greg Halpin as Crust Punk (Eye Gouger)
- Luis Oliva as Crust Punk (Eyes Gouged)
- Charles Hardy as Boat Boy
- Marie-Michelle Garon as Fraught Mother Looking for Boat Boy
- Maev Beaty as Angel / Play Narrator
- Patrick Kwok-Choon as Orphan Hero
- Michael Gandolfini as Beau’s Son
- Théodore Pellerin as Beau’s Son
- Mike Taylor as Beau’s Son
- Luke Alexander James McPhail as Hero Beau's Young Son
- Ryan S. Hill as Hero Beau's Young Son
- Bentley Hughes as Hero Beau's Young Son
- Kwasi Songui as Orphan Ladybug Man
- Sylvain Landry as Orphan Man w/Mandolin
- Tristan D. Lalla as Costume Designer Orphan
- Emmanuel Schwartz as Orphan Chorus Member
- Cat Lemieux as Orphan Chorus Member
- Lily Bird as Samanda
- Arthur Holden as Duncan / God on Cloud / Hero Beau’s Wife
- François Paquette as Yesekov's Body
- Alex Bisping as Orphan Production Designer
- Lucas Gosselin as Orphan Papa Boy
- Joe Cobden as News Correspondent (Brian Galloway)
- Harry Standjofski as Superintendent / Catering Manager
- Anana Rydvald as Teen Elaine's Mother
- Isabelle Brabant as Nurse
- Tarah Schwartz as News Anchor (BB Stab Man)
- Barry Morgan as News Anchor (MW Obit)
- David Mamet as Rabbi
- John Walsh as Hearse Driver
- Karim Babin as Caterer
- Lee Villeneuve as Mona Henchman Who Throws Lawyer
- Steve Newburn as Monster Puppeteer
- Kayla Dobilas as Monster Puppeteer
- Gord Robertson as Monster Puppeteer
- Pamela Iveta as Monster Puppeteer
- Jason Detheridge as Monster Puppeteer
- Luz Tercero as Mourning Woman
- Geneviève Marin as Elaine Body Double
- Julien Fortin as Beau's Twin in Attic
- Marc-André Casavant as Dancer (uncredited)
- Ari Aster as A Neighbor of Beau's (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, 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 120
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 | 70 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 18 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 10 | 6 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 to 18 | 21 | 29 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 14 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 13 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 31 |
| 34 to 36 | 8 | 45 |
| 37 to 39 | 24 | 33 |
| 40 to 42 | 20 | 48 |
| 43 to 45 | 14 | 14 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 35 | 26 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 1 |
| 55 to 57 | 10 | 3 |
| 58 to 60 | 10 | 19 |
| 61 to 63 | 8 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 22 | 20 |
| 67 to 69 | 11 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 7 | 21 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 41 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 7 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 6 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 26 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 168 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 17 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 20 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 6 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 36 | 39 |
| 109 to 111 | 4 | 3 |
| 112 to 114 | 62 | 59 |
| 115 to 117 | 8 | 19 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 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.
TONI: I’m going to school. GRACE: Sweetie, it’s a Saturday.
GRACE: Toni?! TONI: What? GRACE: Come say hi to your family. TONI: Is my room off-limits again tonight?
GRACE: Hi sweetie. What have you been doing? TONI: Homework. GRACE: I love you.
TONI: Yeah right! You’re fucking adopted! LIZ: Aren’t you a little old to be getting adopted?
TONI: Bullshit! LIZ: We can’t trust you unless you smoke it.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
325 lines from women, 839 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 37 men in the cast. 5 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 90 of 1,222.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 242 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 33% of the words (2,672), men 67% (5,477). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
10
Two men
36
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ari Aster (man)
- Written by
- Ari Aster (man)
- Produced by
- Ari Aster (man), Lars Knudsen (man)
- Shot by
- Pawel Pogorzelski (man)
- Edited by
- Lucian Johnston (man)
- Music by
- Bobby Krlic (man)
- Production design by
- Fiona Crombie (woman)
- Costumes by
- Alice Babidge (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Julie Breton (woman), Jim Carnahan (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
2 women, 6 men, 11 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 11 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 4 men, 9 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kylie Rogers 19, Julia Antonelli 19, Zoe Lister-Jones 40, Amy Ryan 54, Parker Posey 54, Patti LuPone 73
Men
Armen Nahapetian 16, Denis Ménochet 46, Joaquin Phoenix 48, Nathan Lane 67
Exhibit H: the money
It made 35% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $12.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 120 scenes and 1,222 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
