Does it pass? bechdel.io

Passes the Bechdel test

Child's Play

1988. Directed by Tom Holland, written by Don Mancini and John Lafia and Tom Holland.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    5 women characters. 4 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 1 scene out of 113.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for Child's Play

The film

When Charles Lee Ray needs to get a quick escape from cop Mike Norris, he takes his soul and buries it into playful, seemingly good guy doll Chucky. Little does he know a little boy by the name of Andy Barclay will be the new owner of him soon-to-come. Charles confides in Andy while he commits numerous murders and once the adults accept Andy's story as truth, it's too late.

Released
09 Nov 1988
Genres
Horror, Thriller
Rated
R
IMDb
6.7 / 10
Metascore
58 / 100
Awards
3 wins & 4 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Karen 181 lines, woman
  2. Mike 120 lines, man
  3. Andy 99 lines, man
  4. Chocky 24 lines
  5. John 14 lines, man
  6. Jack 12 lines, man
  7. Ray 10 lines, man
  8. Maggie 9 lines, woman
  9. Peddler 9 lines, man
  10. Mag3ie 6 lines
Full cast, 29 people
  • Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay
  • Catherine Hicks as Karen Barclay
  • Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray
  • Chris Sarandon as Mike Norris
  • Dinah Manoff as Maggie Peterson
  • Tommy Swerdlow as Jack Santos
  • Jack Colvin as Dr. Ardmore
  • Neil Giuntoli as Eddie Caputo
  • Juan Ramírez as Peddler
  • Alan Wilder as Mr. Criswell
  • Richard Baird as News Reporter at Toy Store
  • Ray Oliver as Dr. Death
  • Aaron Osborne as Orderly
  • Tyler Hard as Mona
  • Ted Liss as George
  • Roslyn Alexander as Lucy
  • Bo Kane as Male TV Newscaster
  • Leila Lee Olsen as Female TV Newscaster
  • Lena Sack as Bellevue Patient
  • Tommy Gerard as Bellevue Patient
  • Michael Chavez as Bellevue Patient
  • Jamie Gray as Bellevue Patient
  • Erin Munz as Bellevue Patient
  • Jana Twomey as Bellevue Patient
  • Suaundra Black as Bellevue Patient
  • Edan Gross as Friendly Chucky / Kid in Animated Commercial (voice)
  • John Franklin as Walkabout Chucky (voice)
  • Michael Patrick Carter as Kid in Animated Commercial (voice)
  • Ed Gale as Chucky (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 18% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 113

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 303
4 to 602
7 to 907
10 to 1204
13 to 151112
16 to 18178
19 to 211310
22 to 241210
25 to 2703
28 to 3000
31 to 3312
34 to 3604
37 to 3900
40 to 4261
43 to 4510
46 to 481518
49 to 511118
52 to 5410
55 to 5702
58 to 6005
61 to 6301
64 to 6601
67 to 694269
70 to 7290
73 to 751723
76 to 781625
79 to 8100
82 to 8400
85 to 8700
88 to 9028
91 to 93918
94 to 9602
97 to 9903
100 to 10212
103 to 105317
106 to 10825
109 to 11111
112 to 11332

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.
KAREN: Dave, would you take over for me for a few minutes? MAGGIE: See, I told you. Howmuch?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 40 are women's.

193 lines from women, 286 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 15 men in the cast. 4 women and 9 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 31 of 581. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 30 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 41% of the words (1,809), men 59% (2,571). Women have 40% 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

2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Tom Holland (man)
Written by
Don Mancini (man), John Lafia (man), Tom Holland (man)
Story by
Don Mancini (man)
Produced by
David Kirschner (man)
Shot by
Wilmer Butler (man)
Edited by
Roy E. Peterson (man), Edward Warschilka (man)
Music by
Joe Renzetti (man)
Production design by
Daniel A. Lomino (man)
Costumes by
April Ferry (woman)
Cast by
Sharon Bialy (woman), Richard Pagano (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    3 women, 16 men, 9 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 6 men, 12 not listed

  • Other crew

    3 women, 10 men, 4 not listed

  • Production

    1 women, 6 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed

  • Writing

    0 women, 4 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 0 men, 2 not listed

  • Editing

    0 women, 2 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 35 on average. Men: 35 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Dinah Manoff 32, Catherine Hicks 37

Men

Alex Vincent 7, Neil Giuntoli 28, Alan Wilder 35, Brad Dourif 38, Chris Sarandon 46, Jack Colvin 54

Exhibit H: the money

It made 4.9 times what it cost.

Budget
$9 million
Box office
$44.2 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 113 scenes and 581 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

Related films

Back to the whole shelf