Passes the Bechdel test
Contact
1997. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg and Carl Sagan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
27 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 198. -
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
Astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) has long been interested in contact with faraway lands, a love fostered in her childhood by her father, Ted Arroway (David Morse), who dies when she was nine-years-old, leaving her an orphan. Her current work with SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is based on that love and is in part an homage to her father. Ever since funding from the National Science Foundation (N.S.F.) was pulled from the project, which was referred to as "more science fiction than science" by some, including her N.S.F. superior David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), Ellie and her rogue scientist colleagues have looked for funding from where ever they could get it to continue their work. When Ellie and her colleagues hear chatter originating from the vicinity of the star Vega, Ellie feels vindicated. But that vindication is short lived when others, including politicians, the military, religious leaders, and rival scientists, such as Drumlin, try to take over her work. After the mysterious messages from space are decoded by her anonymous millionaire donor, S.R. Hadden (Sir John Hurt), the project takes on a whole new dimension, which strengthens for Ellie the quest for answers.
- Released
- 11 Jul 1997
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 62 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 15 wins & 32 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ellie 351 lines, woman
- Joss 89 lines, man
- Drumlin 77 lines, man
- Peter 49 lines
- Ted 43 lines, man
- Kitz 38 lines, man
- Hadden 31 lines, man
- Kent 21 lines, man
- President Lasker 21 lines, woman
- Willie 11 lines, man
Full cast, 126 people
- Jodie Foster as Ellie Arroway
- Matthew McConaughey as Palmer Joss
- James Woods as Michael Kitz
- John Hurt as S. R. Hadden
- Tom Skerritt as David Drumlin
- William Fichtner as Kent
- David Morse as Ted Arroway
- Angela Bassett as Rachel Constantine
- Geoffrey Blake as Fisher
- Max Martini as Willie
- Rob Lowe as Richard Rank
- Jake Busey as Joseph
- Tucker Smallwood as Mission Director
- Jena Malone as Young Ellie
- Sami Chester as Vernon
- Timothy McNeil as Davio
- Laura Elena Surillo as Cantina Woman
- Henry Strozier as Minister
- Larry King as Larry King
- Thomas Garner as Ian Broderick
- Conroy Chino as KOB-TV Reporter
- Dan Gifford as Jeremy Roth
- Vance Valencia as Senator Valencia
- Donna Kelley as Donna Kelley
- Leon Harris as Leon Harris
- Claire Shipman as Claire Shipman
- Behrooz Afrakhan as Middle Eastern Anchor
- Saemi Nakamura as Japanese Anchor
- Maria Celeste Arraras as Latina Anchor
- Tabitha Soren as Tabitha Soren
- Geraldo Rivera as Geraldo Rivera
- Ian Whitcomb as British Anchor
- Jay Leno as Jay Leno
- Natalie Allen as Natalie Allen
- Robert D. Novak as Robert D. Novak
- Geraldine A. Ferraro as Geraldine A. Ferraro
- Ann Druyan as Ann Druyan
- Kathleen Kennedy as Kathleen Kennedy
- Michael Albala as Decryption Hacker
- Ned Netterville as Decryption Expert
- Leo Lee as Major Domo
- William Jordan as Chairman of Joint Chiefs
- David St. James as Joint Chief
- Jill Dougherty as Jill Dougherty
- Haynes Brooke as Drumlin Aide
- John Holliman as John Holliman
- Bobbie Battista as Bobbie Battista
- Dee Dee Myers as Dee Dee Myers
- Bryant Gumbel as Bryant Gumbel
- Linden Soles as Linden Soles
- Steven Ford as Major Russell
- Alexander Zemeckis as Major Russell's Son
- Janie Peterson as Major Russell's Daughter
- Philippe Bergeron as French Committee Member
- Jennifer Balgobin as Dr. Patel
- Anthony Hamilton as British Committee Member
- Rebecca T. Beucler as NASA Public Relations
- Marc Macaulay as NASA Technician
- Pamela Wilsey as Voice of NASA (voice)
- Jeffery Thomas Johnson as Mechanical
- Yuji Okumoto as Electrical
- Gerry Griffin as Dynamics
- Brian Alston as Communications
- Rob Elk as Pad Leader
- Mark Thomason as Security
- José Rey as Controller #8
- Todd Patrick Breaugh as New VLA Technician
- Alex Veadov as Russian Cosmonaut
- Alice Kushida as Scientist
- Robin Gammell as Project Official
- Richardson Morse as Mission Doctor
- Seiji Okamura as Japanese Ensign
- Bernard Shaw as Bernard Shaw
- Mak Takano as Japanese Tech #1
- Hiroshi Tom Tanaka as Japanese Tech #2
- Catherine Dao as Life Support
- Kristoffer Ryan Winters as Dynamics #2
- Valorie Armstrong as Woman Senator
- Jim Hild as Reporter #5
- William L. Thomas as Reporter #6
- Diego Montoya as School Boy
- Jonathan Adler as White House Official (uncredited)
- Robert Aguilar Jr. as NASA Controller #2 (uncredited)
- Mark Bailey as Four-Star General (uncredited)
- Matt Bennett as Senate Observer (uncredited)
- Tony Boldi as Robert Hand (uncredited)
- Christopher Boyer as Scientist (uncredited)
- Christine Brady as White House Official (uncredited)
- Ray Buffer as Press Reporter (uncredited)
- Mark Byrne as Protester (uncredited)
- Candice T. Cain as Supporter (uncredited)
- Michael Chaban as Hadden Suit (uncredited)
- Aixa Clemente as President's Secretary (uncredited)
- Bill Clinton as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Derrick Damions as Ailing Believer (uncredited)
- Elaina Erika Davis as Philanthropy Bureaucrat (uncredited)
- Joey Dente as Factory Worker (uncredited)
- Michael Egan as IMC Police Officer (uncredited)
- Jeff Elmore as Monk (uncredited)
- Pamela Fischer as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Carl Gilliard as Controller (uncredited)
- William B. Kaplan as TV Interviewer (uncredited)
- Boris Lee Krutonog as Astronaut (uncredited)
- Ming Lo as Pod Systems Control (uncredited)
- Sunshine Logroño as Puerto Rican Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Denise Loveday as Press Secretary (uncredited)
- Neal Matarazzo as Kitz's Aide (uncredited)
- Bill Miller as Reporter (uncredited)
- Molly Mueller as Family Exchange (uncredited)
- Paul L. Nolan as Ellie's Attorney (uncredited)
- Marisa Petroro as Oval Office Secretary (uncredited)
- Errica Poindexter as Police Officer (uncredited)
- J.A. Preston as Senator (uncredited)
- Frank Principe as Ailing Believer (uncredited)
- Billy Quinn as Security Guard (uncredited)
- Thomas Reid as Senate Hearing (uncredited)
- Leo Rogstad as Ailing Believer (uncredited)
- Russell Sanderlin Sr. as Photographer (uncredited)
- Frank Silva as Army Officer (uncredited)
- John A. Taylor as Senate Hearing Attendee (uncredited)
- Todd Thompson as News Reporter (uncredited)
- Cenk Uygur as Reporter (uncredited)
- Holly Cross Vagley as Religious Zealot (uncredited)
- Eric Alan Wendell as Protester (uncredited)
- Delaney Williams as Believer #1 (uncredited)
- Gregory L. Williams as Extra (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 198
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 5 | 14 | 11 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 15 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 to 20 | 5 | 4 |
| 21 to 25 | 16 | 10 |
| 26 to 30 | 16 | 0 |
| 31 to 35 | 10 | 12 |
| 36 to 40 | 11 | 24 |
| 41 to 45 | 14 | 22 |
| 46 to 50 | 2 | 2 |
| 51 to 55 | 11 | 21 |
| 56 to 60 | 24 | 33 |
| 61 to 65 | 9 | 12 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 1 |
| 71 to 75 | 43 | 49 |
| 76 to 80 | 8 | 8 |
| 81 to 85 | 12 | 11 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 95 | 1 | 4 |
| 96 to 100 | 11 | 26 |
| 101 to 105 | 3 | 2 |
| 106 to 110 | 26 | 25 |
| 111 to 115 | 5 | 8 |
| 116 to 120 | 5 | 10 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 0 |
| 126 to 130 | 1 | 0 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 0 |
| 136 to 140 | 1 | 1 |
| 141 to 145 | 9 | 13 |
| 146 to 150 | 14 | 21 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 6 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 3 |
| 161 to 165 | 5 | 0 |
| 166 to 170 | 3 | 1 |
| 171 to 175 | 4 | 0 |
| 176 to 180 | 13 | 0 |
| 181 to 185 | 41 | 38 |
| 186 to 190 | 14 | 16 |
| 191 to 195 | 27 | 26 |
| 196 to 198 | 0 | 0 |
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.
ELLIE: A third layer. PRESIDENT LASKER: Oh my God...
PRESIDENT LASKER: What does it say? ELLIE: It could be anything. The first volume of some Encyclopedia Galactica...
ELLIE: That's terrific, but there's one problem: we don't have the means to receive all the data on our own. PRESIDENT LASKER: Is that true?
PRESIDENT LASKER: We don't? Why don't we? ELLIE: Because you cut it from the budget three years running. PRESIDENT LASKER: How soon will you be able to decode it?
ELLIE: Maybe it'll be at the end of the data when the message recycles. PRESIDENT LASKER: Well. That would seem to decide it. Like it or not, for the moment, anyway, it looks like we're all in this together.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 47 are women's.
380 lines from women, 422 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
27 women and 65 men in the cast. 5 women and 36 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 893.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 14 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 40% of the words (4,822), men 60% (7,341). Women have 47% 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
9
Two men
26
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Zemeckis (man)
- Written by
- Michael Goldenberg (man), James V. Hart (man)
- From the novel by
- Carl Sagan (man)
- Produced by
- Robert Zemeckis (man), Steve Starkey (man)
- Shot by
- Don Burgess (man)
- Edited by
- Arthur Schmidt (man)
- Music by
- Alan Silvestri (man)
- Production design by
- Ed Verreaux (man)
- Costumes by
- Joanna Johnston (woman)
- Cast by
- Victoria Burrows (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 20 men, 25 not listed
-
Visual Effects
4 women, 11 men, 27 not listed
-
Sound
10 women, 18 men, 12 not listed
-
Art
5 women, 12 men, 18 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 7 men, 13 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
12 women, 4 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 12 men, 8 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jodie Foster 34, Angela Bassett 38
Men
Matthew McConaughey 27, Max Martini 27, Geoffrey Blake 34, William Fichtner 40, David Morse 43, James Woods 50, John Hurt 57, Tom Skerritt 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- $171 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 198 scenes and 893 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
