Fails the Bechdel test
Brightburn
2019. Directed by David Yarovesky, written by Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
After a difficult struggle with fertility, Tori Breyer's dreams of motherhood come true with the arrival of a mysterious baby boy. Brandon appears to be everything Tori and her husband, Kyle, ever wanted -- bright, talented and curious about the world. But as Brandon nears puberty, powerful darkness manifests within him, and Tori becomes consumed by terrible doubts about her son. Once Brandon begins to act on his twisted urges, those closest to him find themselves in grave danger.
- Released
- 24 May 2019
- Genres
- Drama, Fantasy, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 44 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Tori 164 lines, woman
- Kyle 135 lines, man
- Benjamin 88 lines, man
- Merilee 46 lines, woman
- Noah 20 lines, man
- Erica 18 lines, woman
- Deever 13 lines, man
- Caitlyn 11 lines, woman
- P.E. Teacher 11 lines, man
- Royce 8 lines, man
Full cast, 18 people
- Jackson A. Dunn as Brandon Breyer
- Elizabeth Banks as Tori Breyer
- David Denman as Kyle Breyer
- Matt Jones as Noah McNichol
- Meredith Hagner as Merilee McNichol
- Becky Wahlstrom as Erica
- Emmie Hunter as Caitlyn
- Gregory Alan Williams as Sheriff Deever
- Annie Humphrey as Deputy Ayres
- Abraham Clinkscales as Royce
- Christian Finlayson as Fauxhawk
- Jennifer Holland as Ms. Espenschied
- Terence Rosemore as P.E. Teacher
- Elizabeth Becka as Principal Susko
- Steve Agee as EJ
- Stephen Blackehart as Travis
- Mike Dunston as Reporter
- Michael Rooker as The Big T
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 60
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 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 10 | 21 |
| 5 to 6 | 5 | 13 |
| 7 to 8 | 10 | 5 |
| 9 to 10 | 9 | 15 |
| 11 to 12 | 5 | 7 |
| 13 to 14 | 7 | 29 |
| 15 to 16 | 17 | 5 |
| 17 to 18 | 11 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 9 | 11 |
| 21 to 22 | 16 | 15 |
| 23 to 24 | 20 | 13 |
| 25 to 26 | 3 | 19 |
| 27 to 28 | 8 | 3 |
| 29 to 30 | 13 | 4 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 8 |
| 33 to 34 | 7 | 6 |
| 35 to 36 | 1 | 4 |
| 37 to 38 | 8 | 17 |
| 39 to 40 | 12 | 21 |
| 41 to 42 | 11 | 6 |
| 43 to 44 | 19 | 34 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 5 |
| 47 to 48 | 6 | 5 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 52 | 8 | 9 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 3 |
| 55 to 56 | 8 | 7 |
| 57 to 58 | 14 | 4 |
| 59 to 60 | 7 | 5 |
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, 45 are women's.
244 lines from women, 294 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 11 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 556.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 21 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 45% of the words (1,930), men 55% (2,368).
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
8
Two men
18
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Yarovesky (man)
- Written by
- Brian Gunn (man), Mark Gunn (man)
- Produced by
- James Gunn (man), Kenneth Huang (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Michael Dallatorre (man)
- Edited by
- Andrew S. Eisen (man), Peter Gvozdas (man)
- Music by
- Tim Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Patrick M. Sullivan Jr. (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
3 women, 7 men, 20 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 13 men, 14 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 16 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 5 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 14 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 0 men, 11 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Emmie Hunter 16, Meredith Hagner 31, Becky Wahlstrom 44, Elizabeth Banks 45
Men
Jackson A. Dunn 15, Abraham Clinkscales 17, Matt Jones 37, David Denman 45, Gregory Alan Williams 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6 million
- Box office
- $33.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 60 scenes and 556 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
