Passes the Bechdel test

Changeling

Name: Changeling
Released: 2008

2008. Directed by Clint Eastwood, written by J. Michael Straczynski.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
25 women characters. 7 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 189.
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

In 1928, Los Angeles, single mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) returns from work to find her nine-year-old son Walter (Gattlin Griffith) gone and calls the L.A.P.D. to initiate a search. Five months later, a boy is found in Illinois who fits the description, and he says he's her son. To fanfare and photos, the L.A.P.D. reunite mother and son, but she insists he's not her son. The cops dismiss her as either a liar or hysterical. When she joins a minister in his public criticism of the police, they in turn use government power to intimidate and silence her. Meanwhile, an officer goes to a dilapidated ranch to find a Canadian lad who's without legal status; the youth tells a grisly tale. There's redress for murder; is there redress for abuse of power?

Released: 31 Oct 2008
Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.7 / 10
Metascore: 63 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 14 wins & 55 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Christine 269 lines, woman
Jones 87 lines, man
Ybarra 76 lines, man
Rev. Briegleb 46 lines, man
Gordon 44 lines, man
Steele 39 lines, man
Hahn 35 lines, man
Sanford 29 lines, man
Briegleb 26 lines, man
Dr. Tarr 22 lines, man

Full cast, 95 people

Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins
John Malkovich as Rev. Gustav Briegleb
Jeffrey Donovan as Captain J.J. Jones
Michael Kelly as Detective Lester Ybarra
Colm Feore as Chief James E. Davis
Jason Butler Harner as Gordon Northcott
Amy Ryan as Carol Dexter
Geoff Pierson as S.S. Hahn
Denis O'Hare as Dr. Jonathan Steele
Frank Wood as Ben Harris
Peter Gerety as Dr. Earl W. Tarr
Reed Birney as Mayor Cryer
Gattlin Griffith as Walter Collins
Michelle Gunn as Sandy
Jan Devereaux as Operator
Erica Grant as Operator
Antonia Bennett as Operator
Kerri Randles as Operator
Morgan Eastwood as Girl on Tricycle
Madison Hodges as Neighborhood Girl
Devon Conti as Arthur Hutchins
Ric Sarabia as Man at Diner
J.P. Bumstead as Cook
Debra Christofferson as Police Matron at Train
Russell Edge as Reporter at Train
Stephen W. Alvarez as Reporter at Train
Pete Rockwell as Reporter at Precinct
John Harrington Bland as Dr. John Montgomery
Pamela Dunlap as Mrs. Fox
Roger Hewlett as Officer Morelli
Jim Cantafio as Desk Sergeant
Maria J. Rockwell as Police Matron at Precinct
Wendy Worthington as Reception Nurse
Riki Lindhome as Examination Nurse
Dawn Flood as Morning Nurse
Dale Dickey as Patient
Eddie Alderson as Sanford Clark
Sterling Wolfe as Briegleb's Aide
Michael McCafferty as Ticket Vendor
David Goldman as Administrator
Anthony De Marco as Abducted Kid
Joshua Logan Moore as Abducted Kid
Joe Kaprielian as Abducted Kid
Muriel Minot as Secretary
Kevin Glikmann as Male Orderly
Drew Richards as Holding Officer
Hope Shapiro as Medication Nurse
Caleb Campbell as Backup Detective
Jeff Cockey as Backup Detective
Zach Mills as News Vendor
Kelly Lynn Warren as Rachel Clark
Colby French as Bob Clark
Scott Leva as Mountie
Richard King as Mountie
Clint Ward as Mountie
Michael Dempsey as Man on Street
Peter Breitmayer as Chairman Thorpe
Phil Van Tee as Councilman
Jim Nieb as Reporter at Hearing
Lily Knight as Mrs. Leanne Clay
Jeffrey Hutchinson as Mr. Clay
Brian Prescott as Courtroom Bailiff
Ryan Cutrona as Judge
Mary Stein as Janet Hutchins
Gregg Binkley as Jury Foreman
William Charlton as Prison Guard
Cooper Thornton as Prison Guard
E.J. Callahan as Warden
Asher Axe as David Clay
Devon Gearhart as Winslow Boy
Dalton Stumbo as Winslow Boy
Austin Mensch as Boy in Coop
Jen Lilley as Switchboard Operator (uncredited)
Navah Raphael as Phone Operator (uncredited)
Suzanne LaChasse as Operator (uncredited)
William Brent as Screaming Boy (voice, uncredited)
Callie Thompson as Farm Girl (uncredited)
Michael Lovern as Train Passenger (uncredited)
Patrizia Milano as Train Passenger (uncredited)
January Welsh as Train Passenger (uncredited)
Jarrod Robbins as Reporter (uncredited)
Marissa Welsh as Lady in White (uncredited)
Kerry Hennessy as Church Member / Protestor / Witness (uncredited)
JW Wiseman as Orderly #2 (uncredited)
Christopher Karl Johnson as Protester / Man on Corner with Newspaper Smoking (uncredited)
Jessica Irvine Drake as Protestor (uncredited)
Kimberly Langley as Protestor (uncredited)
Jennifer Swirtz as Protestor (uncredited)
Andre Alexsen as LA City Councilman (uncredited)
John H. Tobin as Northcott Defense Counsel (uncredited)
Dominick Dunne as Man on Jury (uncredited)
Danton Dabar as Prison Guard #3 (uncredited)
Scott Pierce as Prison Doctor (uncredited)
Gary Buckner as Prison Executioner (uncredited)
Bruce Holman as Execution Observer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 189

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 4	0	0
5 to 8	9	4
9 to 12	16	13
13 to 16	7	2
17 to 20	4	4
21 to 24	5	0
25 to 28	23	0
29 to 32	0	7
33 to 36	1	4
37 to 40	6	1
41 to 44	0	16
45 to 48	17	26
49 to 52	8	0
53 to 56	20	24
57 to 60	14	4
61 to 64	4	4
65 to 68	7	12
69 to 72	7	14
73 to 76	9	2
77 to 80	12	17
81 to 84	9	2
85 to 88	7	0
89 to 92	0	8
93 to 96	0	8
97 to 100	0	9
101 to 104	19	8
105 to 108	11	44
109 to 112	0	31
113 to 116	17	25
117 to 120	9	3
121 to 124	1	14
125 to 128	3	10
129 to 132	10	6
133 to 136	0	37
137 to 140	11	10
141 to 144	10	19
145 to 148	2	28
149 to 152	3	5
153 to 156	5	20
157 to 160	8	48
161 to 164	0	5
165 to 168	0	11
169 to 172	6	9
173 to 176	13	24
177 to 180	11	4
181 to 184	10	6
185 to 188	0	27
189 to 189	3	4

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.

PATIENT: My room...no, no...this is...this is MY room.... CHRISTINE: Then if I could just use the phone.

CHRISTINE: Wait...please! There's been a terrible mistake! PATIENT: My room. My room. They SAID it was MY ROOM! CHRISTINE: I'm sorry, I -- PATIENT: MY ROOM! MY ROOM! MY ROOM! MY ROOM!

CHRISTINE: You shouldn't have done that. CAROL DEXTER: Wanted...to. Felt...good. CAROL DEXTER: I lost...two babies...to back alley doctors...no choice.... Never had...the chance...to fight for them. You do. Don't stop. CHRISTINE: I won't...I won't.

CAROL DEXTER: I knew you'd come...I knew you'd come back...I knew you'd come.... CHRISTINE: It's all right...everything's going to be all right now....

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.

337 lines from women, 579 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

25 women and 51 men in the cast. 7 women and 32 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 980. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 80 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 29% of the words (4,511), men 71% (10,794). Women have 37% 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

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Clint Eastwood (man)
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski (man)
Produced by: Brian Grazer (man), Robert Lorenz (man), Ron Howard (man), Clint Eastwood (man)
Shot by: Tom Stern (man)
Edited by: Joel Cox (man), Gary D. Roach (man)
Music by: Clint Eastwood (man)
Production design by: James J. Murakami (man)
Costumes by: Deborah Hopper (woman)
Cast by: Ellen Chenoweth (woman)