Fails the Bechdel test

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Name: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Released: 2009

2009. Directed by Paul Weitz, written by Paul Weitz and Brian Helgeland and Darren Shan.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 2 of them speak.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

Poster for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

The film

Teenager Darren Shan is an excellent student and the pride and joy of his perfect middle-class family, but his best friend is the reckless Steve. When they receive a flyer with an advertisement for a freak show, they sneak to the theater to see the attractions. The star attraction is a vampire called Larten Crepsley, who performs with a colorful yet very lethal spider. After the show, Darren tarries to see the spider and overhears Steve unsuccessfully trying to convince Larten to transform him into a vampire. Darren steals Larten's spider, which later bites Steve. In seeking an antidote from Larten, Darren accepts a deal to become his half-vampire assistant.

Released: 23 Oct 2009
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 5.8 / 10
Metascore: 43 / 100
Awards: 1 win total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Darren 287 lines, man
Crepsley 175 lines, man
Steve 100 lines, man
Debbie 38 lines, woman
Evra 35 lines, man
Gavner Purl 29 lines, man
Dad 19 lines, man
Mom 19 lines, woman
Sam 18 lines
Annie 17 lines, woman

Full cast, 28 people

Chris Massoglia as Darren Shan
John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley
Josh Hutcherson as Steve
Patrick Fugit as Evra the Snake Boy
Salma Hayek Pinault as Madame Truska
Jessica Carlson as Rebecca
Michael Cerveris as Mr. Tiny
Ray Stevenson as Murlaugh
Morgan Saylor as Annie
Don McManus as Mr. Shan
Ken Watanabe as Mr. Tall
Orlando Jones as Alexander Ribs
Frankie Faison as Rhamus Twobellies
Willem Dafoe as Gavner Purl
Kristen Schaal as Gertha Teeth
Patrick Breen as Mr. Kersey
Tom Woodruff Jr. as Wolfman
Jane Krakowski as Corma Limbs
Drew Rin Varick as Loaf Head
Colleen Camp as Mrs. Shan
Lo Graham as Student in Hallway and Classroom
Beau Holden as Trucker
Trey Burvant as Singing Dad
Daniel Newman as Pete
Brandon Molale as Vampaneze (uncredited)
Gino Galento as Madame Truska's Man (uncredited)
Sam Medina as Madame Truska's Man (uncredited)
Cody Klop as Voice

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 91

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	16
3 to 4	0	3
5 to 6	5	21
7 to 8	6	18
9 to 10	0	0
11 to 12	1	28
13 to 14	0	50
15 to 16	0	18
17 to 18	6	3
19 to 20	4	34
21 to 22	2	4
23 to 24	0	0
25 to 26	0	42
27 to 28	0	14
29 to 30	4	1
31 to 32	2	14
33 to 34	8	5
35 to 36	0	12
37 to 38	1	5
39 to 40	1	15
41 to 42	2	1
43 to 44	0	0
45 to 46	0	20
47 to 48	0	5
49 to 50	0	1
51 to 52	1	45
53 to 54	0	10
55 to 56	0	0
57 to 58	0	1
59 to 60	0	3
61 to 62	0	0
63 to 64	0	21
65 to 66	0	16
67 to 68	4	13
69 to 70	0	2
71 to 72	0	55
73 to 74	0	28
75 to 76	10	12
77 to 78	10	21
79 to 80	0	2
81 to 82	9	31
83 to 84	0	13
85 to 86	1	12
87 to 88	2	9
89 to 90	1	40
91 to 91	3	10

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, 11 are women's.

83 lines from women, 674 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

8 women and 20 men in the cast. 2 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 36 of 833. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 102 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (1,231), men 90% (11,346). Women have 11% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Paul Weitz (man)
Written by: Paul Weitz (man), Brian Helgeland (man)
Produced by: Lauren Shuler Donner (woman), Ewan Leslie (man), Andrew Miano (man), Paul Weitz (man)
Shot by: J. Michael Muro (man)
Edited by: Leslie Jones (woman)
Music by: Stephen Trask (non-binary) (non-binary)
Production design by: William Arnold (man)
Costumes by: Judianna Makovsky (woman)