Fails the Bechdel test
Creed
2015. Directed by Ryan Coogler, written by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington and Sylvester Stallone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 4 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Adonis Johnson is the son of the famous boxing champion Apollo Creed, who died in a boxing match in Rocky IV (1985). Adonis wasn't born until after his father's death and wants to follow his fathers footsteps in boxing. He seeks a mentor who is the former heavyweight boxing champion and former friend of Apollo Creed, the retired Rocky Balboa. Rocky eventually agrees to mentor Adonis. With Rocky's help they hope to get a title job to face even deadlier opponents than his father. But whether he is a true fighter remains to be seen....
- Released
- 25 Nov 2015
- Genres
- Action, Drama, Sport
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 46 wins & 66 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Adonis 299 lines, man
- Rocky 214 lines, man
- Bianca 105 lines, woman
- Sporino 26 lines, man
- Dr. Shahani 22 lines, man
- Holiday 22 lines, man
- Lisa 19 lines
- Porter 16 lines, man
- Mary Anne 15 lines, woman
- Announcer 12 lines
Full cast, 79 people
- Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson
- Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa
- Tessa Thompson as Bianca
- Phylicia Rashād as Mary Anne Creed
- Andre Ward as Danny 'Stuntman' Wheeler
- Tony Bellew as 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan
- Ritchie Coster as Pete Sporino
- Jacob 'Stitch' Duran as Stitch
- Graham McTavish as Tommy Holiday
- Malik Bazille as Amir
- Ricardo 'Padman' McGill as Padman
- Gabriel Rosado as Leo 'The Lion' Sporino
- Wood Harris as Tony 'Little Duke' Burton
- Buddy Osborn as Conlan's Cut Man
- Rupal Pujara as Dr. Kathari
- Brian Anthony Wilson as James
- Joey Eye as Sporino Cut Man
- Johanna Tolentino as Lady Cop
- Tony Brice as Tone Trump
- Kash Goins as Larry
- Michael Barker as Reporter
- Clare O'Malley as Reporter
- Kevin King Templeton as Press Conference Moderator
- Roy James Wilson as City Jail Cop
- Mauricio Ovalle as Flores' Trainer
- Mark Rhino Smith as Conlan's Buddy
- Josue Rivera as Tijuana Fight Promoter
- Hans Marrero as Flores
- Derrick Webster as Kev
- Manny Ayala as Welterweight #1
- Anthony Martins as Welterweight #2
- Ricardo Vera as Referee #1 (Tijuana)
- Shawn Clark as Referee #2 (Blue Horizon)
- Christian D. Ellison as Referee #3 (Liverpool)
- Frank Pesce as Mickey's Gym Doorman
- Robert Sale as Leo Trainer #2
- Richard Lyntton as Ringside Doctor
- Kathleen M. Deegan as Nurse Kathy
- Marquise Noel as Young Dirt Bike Rider
- Liev Schreiber as HBO 24/7 Narrator (voice)
- Elvis Grant as Elvis Grant
- Max Kellerman as Max Kellerman
- Jim Lampley as Jim Lampley
- Michael Buffer as Michael Buffer
- Michael Wilbon as Michael Wilbon
- Tony Kornheiser as Anthony Kornheiser
- Hannah Storm as Hannah Storm
- Alex Henderson as Young Adonis
- Khareem Hinton as Thomas
- Noah Coogler as Staff Member #1
- Nelson Bonilla as Staff Member #2
- Troy Faruk as Staff Member #3
- Angela Davis as Staff Member #4
- Claire Bronson as Social Worker
- Deborah Ingersoll as Max's Cashier
- Robert Douglas as Max's Cook
- Troy K. Weston as Max's Cook
- Ludwig Göransson as Bianca's Band
- Moses Sumney as Bianca's Band
- Kenneth Martin as Dirt Bike Rider
- Jermaine Holt as Dirt Bike Rider
- Horace Knight Jr. as Dirt Bike Rider
- Sli Lewis as Dirt Bike Rider
- Brionna Maria Lynch as Dirt Bike Rider
- Jalil Jay Lynch as Dirt Bike Rider
- Zedric Harris as Security Guard
- Christopher Jon Gombos as Security Guard
- Jeff Ward as Concert Security
- Terry Lee Fields II as Fire Breather
- Stephen Chang as Asian Reporter (uncredited)
- Charles W Harris III as Boxer (uncredited)
- Rocky Ciarrocchi as Fan in Crowd (uncredited)
- Oliver Burbage as Boxer (uncredited)
- Maria Shamkalian as Ricky's Friend (uncredited)
- Stefania Damiano as Ring Girl (uncredited)
- Chandra Anderson as Ring Girl (uncredited)
- Wain Jenkins as Spectator (uncredited)
- Jesse Bradley as Reporter
- Jeffrey Mowery as Ringside Photographer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 178
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 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 6 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 4 | 11 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 to 20 | 5 | 34 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 14 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 49 |
| 37 to 40 | 5 | 5 |
| 41 to 44 | 11 | 19 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 21 | 21 |
| 53 to 56 | 8 | 10 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 56 |
| 61 to 64 | 5 | 38 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 8 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 50 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 18 |
| 77 to 80 | 4 | 12 |
| 81 to 84 | 16 | 32 |
| 85 to 88 | 14 | 51 |
| 89 to 92 | 5 | 8 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 9 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 31 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 1 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 1 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 4 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 16 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 5 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 27 |
| 125 to 128 | 7 | 9 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 21 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 2 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 0 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 8 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 0 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 10 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 11 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 12 |
| 169 to 172 | 1 | 2 |
| 173 to 176 | 1 | 20 |
| 177 to 178 | 0 | 1 |
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, 16 are women's.
123 lines from women, 641 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 47 men in the cast. 4 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 849.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 97 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (1,319), men 83% (6,552). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
0
Two men
54
Exhibit E: behind the camera
6 of the 20 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 40% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ryan Coogler (man)
- Written by
- Aaron Covington (man), Ryan Coogler (man)
- Story by
- Ryan Coogler (man)
- Produced by
- Irwin Winkler (man), William Chartoff (man), Sylvester Stallone (man), Charles Winkler (man), David Winkler (man), Robert Chartoff (man) and 1 more
- Shot by
- Maryse Alberti (woman)
- Edited by
- Michael P. Shawver (man), Claudia Castello (woman)
- Music by
- Ludwig Göransson (man)
- Production design by
- Hannah Beachler (woman)
- Costumes by
- Emma Potter (woman), Antoinette Messam (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman), Kathy Driscoll-Mohler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
3 women, 5 men, 28 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 4 men, 27 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 23 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 11 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 6 men, 12 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 13 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 4 men, 11 not listed
-
Editing
4 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 50 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Tessa Thompson 32, Phylicia Rashād 67
Men
Malik Bazille 25, Michael B. Jordan 28, Andre Ward 31, Tony Bellew 32, Ritchie Coster 48, Graham McTavish 54, Jacob 'Stitch' Duran 63, Sylvester Stallone 69
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $37 million
- Box office
- $174 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 178 scenes and 849 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
