Passes the Bechdel test
Bohemian Rhapsody
2018. Directed by Bryan Singer, written by Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 199. -
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 2 out of 3.
The film
Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury. Freddie defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound. They reach unparalleled success, but in an unexpected turn Freddie, surrounded by darker influences, shuns Queen in pursuit of his solo career. Having suffered greatly without the collaboration of Queen, Freddie manages to reunite with his bandmates just in time for Live Aid. While bravely facing a recent AIDS diagnosis, Freddie leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. Queen cements a legacy that continues to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day.
- Released
- 02 Nov 2018
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Music
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 49 / 100
- Awards
- Won 4 Oscars. 50 wins & 81 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Freddie 392 lines, man
- Older Brian 114 lines, man
- Mary 110 lines, woman
- Roger 83 lines, man
- Brian 65 lines, man
- Paul Prenter 40 lines, man
- John Reid 39 lines, man
- Blogger 33 lines, man
- John 31 lines, man
- Jim Beach 22 lines, man
Full cast, 110 people
- Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury
- Gwilym Lee as Brian May
- Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor
- Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon
- Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin
- Aidan Gillen as John Reid
- Allen Leech as Paul Prenter
- Tom Hollander as Jim Beach
- Mike Myers as Ray Foster
- Aaron McCusker as Jim Hutton
- Meneka Das as Jer Bulsara
- Ace Bhatti as Bomi Bulsara
- Priya Blackburn as Kashmira Bulsara
- Max Bennett as David
- Dermot Murphy as Bob Geldof
- Dickie Beau as Kenny Everett
- Jack Roth as Tim Staffell
- Neil Fox-Roberts as Mr. Austin
- Jess Radomska as Cheryl
- Michelle Duncan as Shelley Stern
- Ross Green as Reporter 1
- Bruce Mackinnon as Reporter 2
- Joshua Higgott as Reporter 3
- Pat Lally as Reporter 4
- William Owen as Reporter 5
- Philip Andrew Truempi as Reinhold Mack
- Tim Plester as RT Baker
- Felipe Bejarano as Brazilian Crewman
- Kieran Hardcastle as Heathrow Baggage Handler
- Martin Oelbermann as German TV Journalist
- Ian Gabriel Dumdum as Hospital Doctor
- Matt Greenwood as Young Man at Clinic
- Royce Cronin as TV Director
- James MacLaren as A & R Man
- Andrew Bowerman as Smile Audience Member
- Drew P. as Live Aid Organiser
- Seren Gibson as Roger's Girlfriend 1
- Honor Hellon as Roger's Girlfriend 2
- Rosy Benjamin as Dominique
- Leila Crerar as Chrissie
- Katherine Newman as Veronica
- Adam Rauf as Young Farrokh Bulsara
- Peter Howe as Engineer at Studio
- John Ottman as Live TV Director
- James Wallace as Technical Director
- Matthew Houston as Larry Mullen, Jr. (uncredited)
- Scott Morrison Watson as Steve (uncredited)
- Devlin Lloyd as Floor Manager (uncredited)
- Stefan Kopiecki as Video Producer (uncredited)
- Garry Summers as Voice Doctor (uncredited)
- Matthew Fredricks as Freddie's Lover (uncredited)
- Ian Jareth Williamson as NY Clubber / Freddie's Former Lover (uncredited)
- Adam Lazarus as Raver (uncredited)
- Johanna Thea as VIP Party Guest (uncredited)
- Adam Lambert as Truck Driver (uncredited)
- Andreea Helen David as Live Aid Volunteer (uncredited)
- Adam James Johnston as Adam Clayton (uncredited)
- Charlotte Sharland as Jenny - Ealing Art College Student (uncredited)
- Ray Andrew as Sound Engineer in Truck (uncredited)
- Vincent Andriano as Meat Packer (uncredited)
- Lasco Atkins as NYC Meat Packer (uncredited)
- Michael Ballard as Meat Packer (uncredited)
- Fiona Burt as VIP Party Guest (uncredited)
- Kiana Chang Sigel as Crazy Drummer (uncredited)
- Milo Chang Sigel as Crazy Guitar Player (uncredited)
- Jonathan Cheetham as Kissing Gay Man (1985) (uncredited)
- Michael Cobb as Michael Cobb
- Peter Coe as Club Doorman (uncredited)
- Ellis Crewe-Candy as 1970's Concert Fan (uncredited)
- Adrian Danila as Live Aid Photographer (uncredited)
- Rochelle De-Terville as Passenger / Rio (uncredited)
- Steffan Donnelly as Joe (uncredited)
- Chris Ecob as Live Aid Crowd (uncredited)
- Amor Evans as Girl in Pub (uncredited)
- Jesús Gallo as VIP Backstage Guest (uncredited)
- Carla Garratt as Mary Austin's Friend (uncredited)
- Flora Grant as Tour Bus Girl (uncredited)
- Shane Griffin as Freddie's Friend (uncredited)
- Rishi Gupta as Metal Worker (uncredited)
- James Hare as Live Aid Concert Goer (uncredited)
- Ian Harrod as Press at Live Aid (uncredited)
- Leo Hunter as Freddie's Friend (uncredited)
- Timothy Christian Jansen as 1970's Concert Fan (uncredited)
- Sammy Johnston as Crowd Member (uncredited)
- Mark Kempson as Live Aid Wembley Security (uncredited)
- Doug Kirby as Freddie's Live Aid Cam Operator (uncredited)
- Lex Lamprey as Madison Square Garden Concert Goer (uncredited)
- Jorge Leon as Roadie (uncredited)
- Ian Mansfield as Live Aid TV Camera Operator (uncredited)
- Kas Meghani as Pub Goer (uncredited)
- Alicia Mencía Castaño as Brazilian Maid (uncredited)
- Philips Nortey as Meat Packer Manager (uncredited)
- Jose Palma as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Richard Price as Leather Fetish at MineShaft & Houseparty (uncredited)
- Jason Redshaw as Concert Goer (uncredited)
- Graham J. Reeves as Airline Passenger (uncredited)
- Jonathan Rushby-Taylor as Freddie's Lover (uncredited)
- Freddie Ryde as Concert Guest (uncredited)
- Linus Scheithauer as Paul's Friend (uncredited)
- Bobby Shue as Queen Fan (uncredited)
- Lee Simmons as Club Doorman (uncredited)
- Dave Simon as Man in Pub (uncredited)
- Amanda Smith as Concert Goer (uncredited)
- Winson Ting as Mannequin (uncredited)
- Stuart Whelan as Concert Goer (uncredited)
- Aidan White as Mel Smith (uncredited)
- Sarah Woodruff as English Woman (uncredited)
- Miroslav Zaruba as Singing Russian Soldier (uncredited)
- Joanna Zwierzynska as Concert Girl (uncredited)
- Karl Farrer as Live Aid Concert Goer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 199
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 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 62 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 14 |
| 21 to 25 | 1 | 29 |
| 26 to 30 | 20 | 42 |
| 31 to 35 | 31 | 45 |
| 36 to 40 | 1 | 20 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 15 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 59 |
| 51 to 55 | 5 | 37 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 12 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 8 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 23 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 26 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 26 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 6 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 11 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 14 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 51 |
| 101 to 105 | 22 | 29 |
| 106 to 110 | 1 | 47 |
| 111 to 115 | 2 | 18 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 13 |
| 121 to 125 | 17 | 20 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 77 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 3 |
| 136 to 140 | 1 | 14 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 6 |
| 146 to 150 | 7 | 22 |
| 151 to 155 | 13 | 38 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 16 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 51 |
| 166 to 170 | 3 | 7 |
| 171 to 175 | 2 | 18 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 6 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 4 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 7 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 19 |
| 196 to 199 | 0 | 5 |
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.
KASHMIRA BULSARA: ...and what’s a thousand years between friends, right Fred? MARY: Sweet.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 12 are women's.
127 lines from women, 926 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 48 men in the cast. 2 women and 30 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 1,135.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 237 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (845), men 93% (10,480). Women have 12% 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
1
Two men
94
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 15 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Bryan Singer (man)
- Written by
- Anthony McCarten (man)
- Story by
- Peter Morgan (man), Anthony McCarten (man)
- Produced by
- Jim Beach (man), Bryan Singer (man), Graham King (man), Brian May (man), Roger Taylor (man), Peter Oberth (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Newton Thomas Sigel (man)
- Edited by
- John Ottman (man)
- Production design by
- Aaron Haye (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Julian Day (man)
- Cast by
- Susie Figgis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
8 women, 22 men, 13 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 13 men, 21 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 6 men, 26 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 4 men, 29 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 24 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 9 men, 16 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 5 men, 18 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 11 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lucy Boynton 24
Men
Ben Hardy 27, Gwilym Lee 34, Joseph Mazzello 35, Rami Malek 37, Allen Leech 37, Aaron McCusker 39, Aidan Gillen 50, Tom Hollander 51, Mike Myers 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 17.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $52 million
- Box office
- $911 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 199 scenes and 1,135 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
