Passes the Bechdel test

Cocoon

Name: Cocoon
Released: 1985

1985. Directed by Ron Howard, written by Tom Benedek and David Saperstein.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 174.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

The film

A group of aliens return to earth to retrieve cocoons containing the people they'd left behind from an earlier trip. These cocoons had been resting at the bottom of the ocean. Once retrieved, they stored these recovered cocoons in the swimming pool of a house they'd rented in a small Florida town. Their mission is hampered by a number of elderly people from a nearby retirement community who had been secretly using the pool, and who discover unusual powers from within these cocoons.

Released: 21 Jun 1985
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Metascore: 65 / 100
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. 7 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Ben 90 lines, man
Jack 75 lines, man
Joe 54 lines, man
Art 42 lines, man
Walter 38 lines, man
Mary 26 lines, woman
Bernie 25 lines, man
David 24 lines, man
Alma 18 lines, woman
Susan 18 lines, woman

Full cast, 41 people

Don Ameche as Arthur Selwyn
Wilford Brimley as Benjamin Luckett
Hume Cronyn as Joseph Finley
Brian Dennehy as Walter
Jack Gilford as Bernie Lefkowitz
Steve Guttenberg as Jack Bonner
Maureen Stapleton as Mary Luckett
Jessica Tandy as Alma Finley
Gwen Verdon as Bess McCarthy
Herta Ware as Rosie Lefkowitz
Tahnee Welch as Kitty
Barret Oliver as David
Linda Harrison as Susan
Tyrone Power Jr. as Pillsbury
Clint Howard as John Dexter
Mike Nomad as Doc
Jorge Gil as Lou Pine
James Ritz as DMV Clerk
Charles Rainsbury as Smiley
Wendy J. Cooke as Alien
Pamela Prescott as Alien
Dinah Sue Rowley as Alien
Gabriella Sinclair as Alien
Cyndi Vicino as Bank Teller
Russ Wheeler as Doctor
Harold Bergman as Reverend
Ivy Thayer as Waitress
Fred Broderson as Kirk
Mark Cheresnick as Salvatore
Bette Shoor as Realtor
Mark Simpson as Coast Guard First Class BM
Robert Slacum Jr. as Coast Guard Second Class BM
Rance Howard as St. Petersburg Dectective
Jean Speegle Howard as Woman
Charles Voelker as Leader, New Yorkers Dance Band
Irving Krone as Jasper
Clarence Thomas as Policeman
Ted Science as Policeman
Jim Fitzpatrick as Dock Worker
Tracy Roberts as Bar Patron
Charles Lampkin as Pops

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 174

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	20	64
5 to 8	1	14
9 to 12	7	32
13 to 16	1	20
17 to 20	1	0
21 to 24	4	4
25 to 28	5	12
29 to 32	10	20
33 to 36	2	27
37 to 40	0	0
41 to 44	0	3
45 to 48	2	5
49 to 52	0	7
53 to 56	0	13
57 to 60	16	24
61 to 64	0	0
65 to 68	0	0
69 to 72	0	0
73 to 76	5	13
77 to 80	8	19
81 to 84	6	24
85 to 88	2	2
89 to 92	0	15
93 to 96	0	1
97 to 100	3	5
101 to 104	5	22
105 to 108	3	7
109 to 112	0	0
113 to 116	4	3
117 to 120	2	2
121 to 124	3	2
125 to 128	0	1
129 to 132	2	6
133 to 136	0	0
137 to 140	1	2
141 to 144	0	4
145 to 148	0	0
149 to 152	0	0
153 to 156	1	3
157 to 160	0	3
161 to 164	0	0
165 to 168	0	5
169 to 172	0	1
173 to 174	0	1

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.

ROSE: Why is everybody so quiet today? You're all off in another world or MARY: I was just thinking to myself. ALMA: Me, too. I'm just thinking. BESS: I'm feeling so nice today. I can't even tell you.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 23 are women's.

114 lines from women, 386 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

10 women and 18 men in the cast. 8 women and 13 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 568. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 21% of the words (979), men 79% (3,776). Women have 23% 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

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ron Howard (man)
Written by: Tom Benedek (man)
Story by: David Saperstein (man)
Produced by: Lili Fini Zanuck (woman), David Brown (man), Richard D. Zanuck (man)
Shot by: Donald Peterman (man)
Edited by: Daniel P. Hanley (man), Mike Hill (man)
Music by: James Horner (man)
Production design by: Jack T. Collis (man)
Costumes by: Aggie Guerard Rodgers (woman)
Cast by: Penny Perry (woman), Beverly McDermott (woman)