Passes the Bechdel test
Crash
1997. Directed by David Cronenberg, written by J.G. Ballard and David Cronenberg.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 106. -
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.
The film
Since a road accident left him with serious facial and bodily scarring, a former TV scientist has become obsessed by the marriage of motor-car technology with what he sees as the raw sexuality of car-crash victims. The scientist, along with a crash victim he has recently befriended, sets about performing a series of sexual acts in a variety of motor vehicles, either with other crash victims or with prostitutes whom they contort into the shape of trapped corpses. Ultimately, the scientist craves a suicidal union of blood, semen, and engine coolant, a union with which he becomes dangerously obsessed.
- Released
- 21 Mar 1997
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- NC-17
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 9 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- James 87 lines, man
- Catherine 41 lines, woman
- Vaughan 37 lines, man
- Helen 27 lines, woman
- Renata 14 lines
- Gabrielle 4 lines, woman
- Vera 4 lines
- Ad 3 lines
- Student Nurse 3 lines
- Colin 2 lines, man
Full cast, 16 people
- James Spader as James Ballard
- Holly Hunter as Helen Remington
- Elias Koteas as Vaughan
- Deborah Kara Unger as Catherine Ballard
- Rosanna Arquette as Gabrielle
- Peter MacNeill as Colin Seagrave
- Cheryl Swarts as Vera Seagrave
- Yolande Julian as Airport Hooker
- Nicky Guadagni as Tattooist
- Ronn Sarosiak as A.D.
- Boyd Banks as Grip
- Judah Katz as Salesman
- Markus Parilo as Man in Hanger
- Alice Poon as Camera Girl
- John Stoneham Jr. as Trask
- David Cronenberg as Auto Wreck Salesman (voice) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 106
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 13 | 11 |
| 19 to 21 | 4 | 8 |
| 22 to 24 | 5 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 3 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 11 | 10 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 2 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 10 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 6 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 4 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 8 |
| 52 to 54 | 6 | 4 |
| 55 to 57 | 4 | 14 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 63 | 3 | 4 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 2 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 5 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 3 | 4 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 2 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 106 | 1 | 2 |
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.
CATHERINE: I can't believe you've done this. KAREN: This is the exact same car as your old one, isn't it? CATHERINE: Yes, it is. Are you planning to have another car crash?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.
76 lines from women, 128 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 9 men in the cast. 5 women and 5 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 232.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 17 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 43% of the words (1,245), men 57% (1,642). Women have 37% 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
Two women
1
Two men
10
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Cronenberg (man)
- Written by
- David Cronenberg (man)
- From the novel by
- J.G. Ballard (man)
- Produced by
- David Cronenberg (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Suschitzky (man)
- Edited by
- Ronald Sanders (man)
- Music by
- Howard Shore (man)
- Production design by
- Carol Spier (woman)
- Costumes by
- Denise Cronenberg (woman)
- Cast by
- Deirdre Bowen (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 9 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Deborah Kara Unger 30, Rosanna Arquette 36, Holly Hunter 38, Nicky Guadagni 43
Men
Elias Koteas 35, James Spader 36, Peter MacNeill 44
Exhibit H: the money
It made 30% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $9 million
- Box office
- $2.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 106 scenes and 232 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
