Fails the Bechdel test
Candyman
2021. Directed by Nia DaCosta, written by Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld and Nia DaCosta.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 4 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In present day, many years after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, Anthony and his partner move into a loft in the now gentrified Cabrini. A chance encounter with an old-timer exposes Anthony to the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to use these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, he unknowingly opens a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence.
- Released
- 27 Aug 2021
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 72 / 100
- Awards
- 10 wins & 24 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Anthony 207 lines, man
- Brianna 144 lines, woman
- Lipez 53 lines, man
- Leonard 42 lines
- Jim 33 lines, man
- Lorraine 30 lines, woman
- Anne 23 lines, woman
- Helen 23 lines, woman
- Wilcott 11 lines
- Barista 8 lines
Full cast, 41 people
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Anthony McCoy
- Teyonah Parris as Brianna Cartwright
- Colman Domingo as William Burke
- Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Troy Cartwright
- Kyle Kaminsky as Grady Smith
- Vanessa Williams as Anne-Marie McCoy
- Brian King as Clive Privler
- Miriam Moss as Jerrika
- Rebecca Spence as Finley Stephens
- Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Jameson
- Christiana Clark as Danielle Harrington
- Michael Hargrove as Candyman / Sherman Fields
- Rodney L Jones III as Billy
- Ireon Roach as Trina
- Breanna Lind as Annika
- Heidi Grace Engerman as Haley Gulick
- Sarah Lo as Samantha
- Ro White as Boof
- Mark Montgomery as Detective Lipez
- Torrey Hanson as Jack Hyde
- Cassie Kramer as Librarian
- Sarah Wisterman as Celine
- Cedric Mays as Gil Cartwright
- Alec Silver as Restaurant server
- Hannah Love Jones as Young Brianna
- J. Nicole Brooks as Dr. Collins
- Pamela Jones as Reporter Devlin Sharpe
- Genesis Denise Hale as Sabrina
- Katherine Purdie as Haley's Mom
- Tien Tran as Jane Ji
- Mike Geraghty as Police Officer Jones
- Aaron Crippen as Police Officer Smith
- Dan Fierro as Police Officer Rooney
- Nadia Simms as Ringleader
- Nancy Pender as TV News Anchor
- Johnny Westmoreland as Samuel Evans
- Guy Spencer as John Crawley
- Daejon Staeker as The Kid
- Tony Todd as Candyman / Daniel Robitaille
- Virginia Madsen as Helen Lyle (voice)
- Ben Marten as Officer Cooke (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% 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 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 17 | 9 |
| 10 to 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 7 | 34 |
| 19 to 21 | 6 | 7 |
| 22 to 24 | 5 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 11 | 21 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 16 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 11 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 13 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 1 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 2 |
| 46 to 48 | 29 | 41 |
| 49 to 51 | 5 | 1 |
| 52 to 54 | 7 | 18 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 11 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 23 |
| 61 to 63 | 4 | 4 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 to 69 | 32 | 15 |
| 70 to 72 | 8 | 8 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 9 | 9 |
| 79 to 81 | 13 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 18 | 20 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 11 |
| 94 to 96 | 7 | 22 |
| 97 to 97 | 7 | 0 |
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, 41 are women's.
222 lines from women, 325 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 12 men in the cast. 4 women and 5 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 649.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 76 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 43% of the words (2,373), men 57% (3,085). Women have 41% 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
1
Two men
11
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Nia DaCosta (woman)
- Written by
- Win Rosenfeld (man), Nia DaCosta (woman), Jordan Peele (man)
- Produced by
- Win Rosenfeld (man), Jordan Peele (man), Ian Cooper (man)
- Shot by
- John Guleserian (man)
- Edited by
- Catrin Hedström (woman)
- Music by
- Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (man)
- Production design by
- Cara Brower (woman)
- Costumes by
- Lizzie Cook (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 7 men
-
Sound
0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 5 not listed
-
Writing
1 women, 4 men
-
Art
3 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Teyonah Parris 33, Rebecca Spence 45, Vanessa Williams 58
Men
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 35, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett 35, Colman Domingo 51
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $77.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 97 scenes and 649 lines of dialogue. How the test works
