Does it pass? bechdel.io

Passes the Bechdel test

Catherine Called Birdy

2022. Directed by Lena Dunham, written by Lena Dunham and Karen Cushman.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    8 women characters. 8 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 12 scenes out of 128.
  3. 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.

Poster for Catherine Called Birdy

The film

A 14 year old girl in medieval England navigates through life and avoiding potential suitors her father has in mind.

Released
07 Oct 2022
Genres
Adventure, Comedy
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.6 / 10
Metascore
74 / 100
Awards
2 wins & 10 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Birdy 353 lines, woman
  2. Rollo 100 lines, man
  3. Aislinn 47 lines, woman
  4. Morwenna 45 lines, woman
  5. Aelis 33 lines, woman
  6. Robert 33 lines, man
  7. Shaggy Beard 33 lines, man
  8. George 31 lines, man
  9. Ethelfritha 23 lines, woman
  10. Perkin 20 lines
Full cast, 40 people
  • Bella Ramsey as Birdy
  • Billie Piper as Lady Aislinn
  • Andrew Scott as Lord Rollo
  • Lesley Sharp as Morwenna
  • Joe Alwyn as Uncle George
  • Sophie Okonedo as Ethelfritha Rose Splinter of Devon
  • Paul Kaye as Sir John Henry Murgaw aka Shaggy Beard
  • Dean-Charles Chapman as Robert
  • Isis Hainsworth as Aelis
  • Archie Renaux as Edward the Monk
  • Michael Woolfitt as Perkin
  • David Bradley as Lord Gideon Sidebottom
  • Mimî M. Khayisa as Lady Berenice Sidebottom
  • Ralph Ineson as Golden Tiger
  • Rita Bernard-Shaw as Meg
  • Jake Middleton Cooke as Alf
  • Adam Aziz as Gerd
  • Saskia Chana as Cornethia
  • Jamie Demetriou as Etienne, Manservant to Shaggy Beard
  • Akemnji Ndifornyen as Finneas the Steward
  • Russell Brand as Suitor from Kent
  • Christophe Tek as John of Normandy
  • Angus Wright as Fulk the Elder
  • Jacob Avery as Fulk the Younger
  • Douggie McMeekin as Lord Rolf of Saxony
  • Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings as Godfrey of Glardenmere
  • Bola Latunji as Balthasar of the Low Country
  • Jessica Ellis as Laundress
  • Jordan Adene as Mitten Man
  • Tyler Howitt as Lord Sungerk of Dunkerk
  • Jeffery Kissoon as Father Huy
  • Moya Brady as Nan the Midwife
  • Ramesh Nair as Tiger Salesman
  • Antony Bunsee as Old Man
  • Tim Bevan as Older Monk
  • Colin Murtagh as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
  • Volenté Lloyd as Villager (uncredited)
  • Trevor Jones as Peter (uncredited)
  • Chris Ecob as Pastry Chef (uncredited)
  • Rhys Humphreys as Fishmonger/Villager (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 128

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 310
4 to 6120
7 to 930
10 to 1271
13 to 1550
16 to 1863
19 to 2129
22 to 24213
25 to 27305
28 to 3080
31 to 33247
34 to 36148
37 to 39220
40 to 4255
43 to 45218
46 to 4810
49 to 5121
52 to 542621
55 to 57124
58 to 6080
61 to 63234
64 to 66167
67 to 6932
70 to 7262
73 to 75113
76 to 78250
79 to 811313
82 to 84611
85 to 871013
88 to 90276
91 to 931122
94 to 961212
97 to 991614
100 to 10200
103 to 1054015
106 to 10842
109 to 1111815
112 to 1143912
115 to 11730
118 to 12057
121 to 1231132
124 to 126110
127 to 12830

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.
MORWENNA: All those herbs that we picked? We’re going to make tea into your favorite cup. BIRDY: It is my favorite cup. MORWENNA: I know. MORWENNA: And swirl and dip.
BIRDY: Mumma! AISLINN: Well I, for one, should like my room free of jesters for the moment. I should like to rest and do my puzzles.
AELIS: Your hair is so long Birdy. You need to brush it. BIRDY: I’m going to grow it all the way down to my feet.
BERENICE: Well, I go where I want and I say what I please. AELIS: She’s been writing the most tragic poetry.
BIRDY: As the time approaches when I must wed, I must undertake lady lessons. My two least favorite words. Together. In one terrible phrase. CORNETHIA: Gently, young ladies. A gentle hand plays a soothing tune. BIRDY: Sister Cornethia attempts to make me musical, pious, and full of grace for any suitor who may court. CORNETHIA: Do we find our lessons ever so funny? Seems to me a joke is astir.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 65 are women's.

524 lines from women, 277 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 21 men in the cast. 8 women and 14 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 14 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 67% of the words (6,670), men 33% (3,323). Women have 65% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

7 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 55% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Lena Dunham (woman)
Written by
Lena Dunham (woman)
From the novel by
Karen Cushman (woman)
Produced by
Eric Fellner (man), Tim Bevan (man), Jo Wallett (woman)
Shot by
Laurie Rose (man)
Edited by
Joe Klotz (man)
Music by
Carter Burwell (man)
Production design by
Kave Quinn (woman)
Cast by
Catriona Dickie (woman), Nina Gold (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    7 women, 6 men, 4 not listed

  • Art

    5 women, 2 men, 7 not listed

  • Production

    5 women, 4 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 3 men, 5 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 0 men, 3 not listed

  • Writing

    2 women, 0 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 45 on average. Men: 36 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Isis Hainsworth 23, Billie Piper 40, Sophie Okonedo 54, Lesley Sharp 62

Men

Archie Renaux 24, Dean-Charles Chapman 25, Joe Alwyn 31, Andrew Scott 45, Paul Kaye 56

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 128 scenes and 842 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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