Fails the Bechdel test

Beginners

Name: Beginners
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by Mike Mills, written by Mike Mills.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 7 of them speak.
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 1 out of 3.

The film

In 2003, 38-year-old graphic artist Oliver Fields has just lost his father Hal to cancer, 5 years after his mother Georgia's death. Oliver is naturally sullen because of his relationships with his parents growing up (especially his mother, who had a unique view of life) and watching their cordial but somewhat distant marital relationship, but he's more so now as he deals with his personal losses. He embarks on a relationship with French actress Anna, hoping that his re-energized relationship with Hal following Georgia's death, and Hal's new outlook on life, will show him how to act in a loving relationship. After Georgia's death, Hal came out of the closet and began to live with a new joie de vivre and have an open relationship with Andy, a much-younger man. Oliver's relationship with Anna has other obstacles, including her own vagabond lifestyle and Oliver inheriting Arthur, Hal's very needy Jack Russell terrier.

Released: 09 Jun 2011
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 81 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 36 wins & 30 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Oliver 271 lines, man
Hal 126 lines, man
Anna 96 lines, woman
Andy 28 lines, man
Elliott 25 lines, man
Georgia 23 lines, woman
Shauna 10 lines, woman
Juan 8 lines, man
Arthur Subtitle 7 lines
Manager 4 lines

Full cast, 33 people

Ewan McGregor as Oliver Fields
Christopher Plummer as Hal Fields
Mélanie Laurent as Anna Wallace
Goran Višnjić as Andy
Kai Lennox as Elliot
Mary Page Keller as Georgia Fields
Keegan Boos as Young Oliver
China Shavers as Shauna
Melissa Tang as Liz
Amanda Payton as Party Person
Luke Diliberto as Green Witch
Lou Taylor Pucci as Magician
Jennifer Lauren Grant as Record Company Rep
Reynaldo Pacheco as Julio
Jodi Long as Dr. Long
Bruce French as Dr. Wright
Leslie Shea as ICU Nurse #1
Michael Chieffo as Hal's Priest
Jennifer Hasty as Secretary
June Saunders as 1978 Fancy Woman
Catherine McGoohan as 1978 Older Woman
Terry Walters as Terse Nurse
Lana Young as ICU Nurse #2
AlgeRita Wynn as Nice Nurse
Regine Redwing as Strict Nurse
Sunday Burke as Home Nurse #1
Patrick Birkett as Hal Look-Alike
Sabera Wise as Skating Rink Manager
Rafael J. Noble as Brian
Jose Yenque as Robert
Rodney Saulsberry as 1978 Museum Staff
Bambadjan Bamba as The Sads
Hana Hwang as The Sads

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 179

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 4	0	0
5 to 8	0	5
9 to 12	0	2
13 to 16	0	10
17 to 20	0	3
21 to 24	3	9
25 to 28	0	24
29 to 32	2	8
33 to 36	8	28
37 to 40	0	1
41 to 44	0	15
45 to 48	3	17
49 to 52	0	1
53 to 56	3	27
57 to 60	6	20
61 to 64	2	7
65 to 68	8	8
69 to 72	16	12
73 to 76	0	17
77 to 80	7	28
81 to 84	9	14
85 to 88	5	6
89 to 92	0	38
93 to 96	13	10
97 to 100	6	10
101 to 104	1	2
105 to 108	1	5
109 to 112	0	15
113 to 116	1	0
117 to 120	4	12
121 to 124	4	9
125 to 128	6	29
129 to 132	1	12
133 to 136	1	4
137 to 140	2	2
141 to 144	4	3
145 to 148	0	3
149 to 152	6	5
153 to 156	3	0
157 to 160	0	6
161 to 164	0	1
165 to 168	3	5
169 to 172	1	16
173 to 176	0	10
177 to 179	10	8

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, 23 are women's.

139 lines from women, 467 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

13 women and 14 men in the cast. 7 women and 4 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 33 of 650. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 47 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (966), men 76% (3,086). Women have 23% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

5 of the 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Mike Mills (man)
Written by: Mike Mills (man)
Produced by: Leslie Urdang (woman), Dean Vanech (man), Miranda de Pencier (woman), Jay Van Hoy (man), Lars Knudsen (man), Mark Levinson (man)
Shot by: Kasper Tuxen (man)
Edited by: Olivier Bugge Coutté (man)
Music by: Brian Reitzell (man), Roger Neill (man), Dave Palmer (man)
Production design by: Shane Valentino (man)
Costumes by: Jennifer Johnson (woman)
Cast by: Nicole Daniels (woman), Courtney Bright (woman)