Passes the Bechdel test

Black Swan

Name: Black Swan
Released: 2010

2010. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
37 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 14 scenes out of 97.
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

Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica (Hershey) who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Released: 17 Dec 2010
Genres: Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 8 / 10
Metascore: 79 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 98 wins & 279 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Nina 190 lines, woman
Leroy 129 lines, man
Lily 87 lines, woman
Erica 81 lines, woman
Beth 14 lines, woman
Andrew 13 lines, man
Veronica 9 lines, woman
Tom 6 lines, man
David 5 lines, man
Stage Manager 4 lines, man

Full cast, 57 people

Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers / The Swan Queen
Mila Kunis as Lily / The Black Swan
Vincent Cassel as Thomas Leroy / The Gentleman
Barbara Hershey as Erica Sayers / The Queen
Winona Ryder as Beth Macintyre / The Dying Swan
Benjamin Millepied as David Moreau / The Prince
Ksenia Solo as Veronica / Little Swan
Kristina Anapau as Galina / Little Swan
Janet Montgomery as Madeline / Little Swan
Sebastian Stan as Andrew / Suitor
Toby Hemingway as Tom / Suitor
Sergio Torrado as Sergio / Rothbart
Mark Margolis as Mr. Fithian / Patron
Tina Sloan as Mrs. Fithian / Patron
Abraham Aronofsky as Mr. Stein / Patron
Charlotte Aronofsky as Mrs. Stein / Patron
Marcia Jean Kurtz as Costumer Georgina
Shaun O'Hagan as Stage Manager Sebastian
Chris Gartin as Sexy Waiter Scott
Deborah Offner as Administrator Susie
Stanley B. Herman as Uncle Hank
Michelle Rodriguez Nouel as Physical Therapist
Kurt Froman as Understudy for Siegfried
Marty Krzywonos as Conductor
Leslie Lyles as Nurse
John Epperson as Jaded Piano Player
Arkadiy Figlin as Piano Player
Tim Fain as Violin Player
Sarah Lane as Lady in the Lane
Liam Flaherty as Man in Stall
Patrick Heusinger as Rich Gent
Marina Stavitskaya as Ballet Mistress
Olga Kostritzky as Ballet Mistress
Christine Redpath as Ballet Mistress
Alexandra Damiani as Ballet Mistress
Rebecca Azenberg as Corps De Ballet
Laura Bowman as Corps De Ballet
Holly L. Fusco as Corps De Ballet
Abigail Mentzer as Corps De Ballet
Barette Vance as Corps De Ballet
Lillian di Piazza as Corps De Ballet
Megan Dickinson as Corps De Ballet
Jessy Hendrickson as Corps De Ballet
Geneviève Lebean as Corps De Ballet
Rachel Jambois as Corps De Ballet
Ryoko Sadoshima as Corps De Ballet
Kaia A. Tack as Corps De Ballet
Lauren Fadeley as Corps De Ballet
Sarah Hay as Corps De Ballet
Adrianna de Svastich as Corps De Ballet
Jamie Wolf as Corps De Ballet
Carrie Lee Riggins as Corps De Ballet
Gina Artese as Corps De Ballet
Daralina Komar as Ballet Dancer (uncredited)
Tim Lacatena as Ballet Dancer (uncredited)
Alyson Cambridge as Dancer (uncredited)
Anne Bergstedt Jordanova as Dancer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 97

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	9	0
7 to 9	14	10
10 to 12	5	11
13 to 15	9	0
16 to 18	10	1
19 to 21	10	15
22 to 24	4	0
25 to 27	11	3
28 to 30	5	14
31 to 33	24	9
34 to 36	26	12
37 to 39	1	0
40 to 42	5	5
43 to 45	0	3
46 to 48	22	12
49 to 51	17	11
52 to 54	72	2
55 to 57	31	19
58 to 60	0	0
61 to 63	1	0
64 to 66	19	0
67 to 69	18	7
70 to 72	10	9
73 to 75	15	0
76 to 78	1	0
79 to 81	31	0
82 to 84	7	6
85 to 87	0	0
88 to 90	10	4
91 to 93	0	2
94 to 96	4	1
97 to 97	4	5

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.

VERONICA: Can't believe she's back. GALINA: Of course she is. VERONICA: She can't take a hint? Company's broke. No one comes to see her anymore.

VERONICA: Like someone who's not approaching menopause. NINA: I think it's sad. VERONICA: What's sad? NINA: Beth's such an amazing dancer.

LILY: I'm good. NINA: Should I go again?

VERONICA: Your idea of a joke? VERONICA: Fuck you. NINA SAYERS: Stunned, she turns around to face the mass of ballerinas.

ERICA: My daughter, the Swan Queen. NINA: Oh, mom. ERICA: It's our favorite, vanilla with strawberry filling. NINA: Just a little piece.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 71 are women's.

395 lines from women, 161 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

37 women and 14 men in the cast. 11 women and 7 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 16 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 58% of the words (2,075), men 42% (1,487). Women have 71% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

7 of the 19 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 39% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky (man)
Written by: Andres Heinz (man), John J. McLaughlin (man), Mark Heyman (man)
Story by: Andres Heinz (man)
Produced by: Brian Oliver (man), Mike Medavoy (man), Arnold Messer (man), Scott Franklin (man)
Shot by: Matthew Libatique (man)
Edited by: Andrew Weisblum (man)
Music by: Clint Mansell (man)
Production design by: Thérèse DePrez (woman)
Costumes by: Amy Westcott (woman), Kate Mulleavy (woman), Laura Mulleavy (woman)
Cast by: Mary Vernieu (woman), Ann Goulder (woman), Gayle Keller (woman)