Passes the Bechdel test
Cloverfield
2008. Directed by Matt Reeves, written by Drew Goddard.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 136. -
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
To celebrate Rob's massive promotion, his lover, Beth, and friends, decide to throw a massive surprise farewell party, now that he is about to move to Japan. However, a deafening explosion and the arrival of an enormous scaly and gangly creature will abruptly interrupt the festivities, as all hell breaks loose in New York City, and the Statue of Liberty is decapitated. As the reptilian behemoth levels Manhattan, a daring dash to rescue Beth begins, while at the same time, everything is recorded through the lens of a hand-held camcorder, amid mayhem and destruction. In the end, where did this relentless invader come from, and above all, is there a chance of survival? As they go to investigate, an adventure deep into the streets of New York begins, as the friends are determined to rescue Rob's true love.
- Released
- 18 Jan 2008
- Genres
- Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 64 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 34 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rob 193 lines, man
- Hud 156 lines, man
- Beth 68 lines, woman
- Jason 62 lines, man
- Lily 61 lines, woman
- Marlena 46 lines, woman
- Pryce 14 lines, man
- Graff 10 lines, man
- Voice 9 lines
- Antonio 6 lines, man
Full cast, 50 people
- Lizzy Caplan as Marlena
- Jessica Lucas as Lily
- T.J. Miller as Hud
- Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins
- Mike Vogel as Jason Hawkins
- Odette Annable as Beth McIntyre
- Anjul Nigam as Bodega Cashier
- Margot Farley as Jenn
- Theo Rossi as Antonio
- Brian Klugman as Charlie
- Kelvin Yu as Clark
- Liza Lapira as Heather
- Lili Mirojnick as Lei
- Ben Feldman as Travis
- Elena Nikitina Bick as Party Goer
- Vakisha Coleman as Party Goer
- Will Greenberg as Party Goer
- Rob Kerkovich as Party Goer
- Ryan Key as Party Goer
- Hooman Khalili as Party Goer
- Rasika Mathur as Party Goer
- Baron Vaughn as Party Goer
- Lo Mutuc as Party Goer
- Roma Torre as Roma Torre
- Rick Overton as Frantic Man
- Martin Cohen as Burly Guy
- Jason Cerbone as Police Officer
- Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Russian Man on Street
- Billy Brown as Staff Sgt. Pryce
- Scott Lawrence as Lead Soldier
- Jeffrey De Serrano as Soldier
- Tim Griffin as Command Center Officer
- Chris Mulkey as Lt. Col. Graff
- Susse Budde as Medic
- Jason Lombard as Second Medic
- Jamie Martz as Helicopter Pilot
- Matt Reeves as Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
- Michael Ark as Party Goer (uncredited)
- Caley Bisson as Party Bartender (uncredited)
- Maylen Calienes as Frantic Girl on Bridge (uncredited)
- Craig Dabbs as Army Sgt. First Class (uncredited)
- Jason Giffin as National Guardsman / Tank Gunner (uncredited)
- Hisonni Johnson as Party Goer (uncredited)
- Adam Karst as New Yorker (uncredited)
- Julio Leal as Rocketeer / Soldier (uncredited)
- Gene Richards as First Man Coughing (uncredited)
- Bertrand Roberson Jr. as Military Personnel (uncredited)
- Chris Spinelli as Party Goer (uncredited)
- Rick Shuster as Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
- Jake McLaughlin as Helicopter Pilot (voice) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 136
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 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 15 | 16 |
| 7 to 9 | 9 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 19 |
| 13 to 15 | 9 | 6 |
| 16 to 18 | 4 | 5 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 5 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 12 |
| 25 to 27 | 2 | 19 |
| 28 to 30 | 5 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 8 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 6 |
| 37 to 39 | 2 | 7 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 35 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 4 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 5 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 7 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 17 |
| 55 to 57 | 6 | 12 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 6 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 5 | 14 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 20 | 29 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 15 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 5 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 9 |
| 82 to 84 | 5 | 8 |
| 85 to 87 | 5 | 15 |
| 88 to 90 | 8 | 14 |
| 91 to 93 | 4 | 11 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 6 | 11 |
| 100 to 102 | 4 | 22 |
| 103 to 105 | 5 | 26 |
| 106 to 108 | 4 | 13 |
| 109 to 111 | 2 | 16 |
| 112 to 114 | 7 | 16 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 1 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 1 |
| 121 to 123 | 3 | 7 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 0 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 2 |
| 130 to 132 | 16 | 8 |
| 133 to 135 | 11 | 16 |
| 136 to 136 | 3 | 5 |
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.
LILY: Marlena, we're gonna get out of here. Okay? Marlena? MARLENA: It was eating people. It was eating everyone ...
MARLENA: You want us to walk the tunnels? LILY: It would only take us about thirty minutes ... MARLENA: You want us to walk the tunnels?
MARLENA: I'm not even trying. LILY: Did the news say what it was?
MARLENA: Let's go LILY: Door -- GET TO THE DOOR --
BETH: My name is Elizabeth McIntyre. BETH: I don't know why this is happening. But ... we're gonna wait here until this passes. BETH: We're gonna wait BETH --: And as DEBRIS and DARKNESS ENVELOPS US -- our world TOSSING ABOUT as though we're in a MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.
192 lines from women, 466 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 30 men in the cast. 9 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 689.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 41 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 (1,846), men 71% (4,478).
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
8
Two men
63
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Matt Reeves (man)
- Written by
- Drew Goddard (man)
- Produced by
- J.J. Abrams (man), Bryan Burk (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Bonvillain (man)
- Edited by
- Kevin Stitt (man)
- Music by
- Michael Giacchino (man)
- Production design by
- Martin Whist (man)
- Costumes by
- Ellen Mirojnick (woman)
- Cast by
- Alyssa Weisberg (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
4 women, 12 men, 41 not listed
-
Other crew
6 women, 14 men, 28 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 11 men, 26 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 18 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 9 men, 15 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 12 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 3 men, 18 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 23 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jessica Lucas 22, Odette Annable 22, Lizzy Caplan 25
Men
Michael Stahl-David 25, T.J. Miller 26, Mike Vogel 28, Theo Rossi 32, Brian Klugman 32, Anjul Nigam 42
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $171 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 136 scenes and 689 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
