Fails the Bechdel test

Darkest Hour

Name: Darkest Hour
Released: 2017

2017. Directed by Joe Wright, written by Anthony McCarten.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
16 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

During World War II, as Adolf Hitler's powerful Wehrmacht rampages across Europe, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Neville Chamberlain, is forced to resign, recommending Winston Churchill as his replacement. But even in his early days as the country's leader, Churchill is under pressure to commence peace negotiations with Hitler or to fight head-on the seemingly invincible Nazi regime, whatever the cost. However difficult and dangerous his decision may be, Churchill has no choice but to shine in the country's darkest hour.

Released: 22 Dec 2017
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.4 / 10
Metascore: 75 / 100
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. 54 wins & 81 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Winston 325 lines, man
Halifax 46 lines, man
Clemmie 44 lines, woman
George Vi 40 lines, man
Elizabeth 36 lines, woman
Chamberlain 28 lines, man
John Evans 19 lines, man
Ironside 16 lines, man
Eden 15 lines, man
Attlee 13 lines, man

Full cast, 61 people

Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill
Stephen Dillane as Viscount Halifax
Lily James as Elizabeth Layton
Ronald Pickup as Neville Chamberlain
Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI
Kristin Scott Thomas as Clemmie
Nicholas Jones as Sir John Simon
Samuel West as Sir Anthony Eden
David Schofield as Clement Atlee
Richard Lumsden as General Ismay
Malcolm Storry as General Ironside
Hilton McRae as Arthur Greenwood
Benjamin Whitrow as Sir Samuel Hoare
Joe Armstrong as John Evans
Adrian Rawlins as Air Chief Marshal Dowding
David Bamber as Admiral Ramsay
Paul Leonard as Admiral Dudley Pound
David Strathairn as President Roosevelt (voice)
Eric MacLennan as Tom Leonard
Philip Martin Brown as Sawyers
Demetri Goritsas as Cabinet Secretary Bridges
Jordan Waller as Randolph Churchill
Alex Clatworthy as Diana Churchill
Mary Antony as Mary Churchill
Bethany Muir as Sarah Churchill
Anna Burnett as Pamela Churchill
Jeremy Child as Lord Stanhope
Brian Pettifer as Lord Kingsley Wood
Michael Gould as Lord Londonderry
Paul Ridley as House of Commons Speaker
Robin Pearce as Ernle Hastings
Michael Bott as Equerry
Olivier Broche as Reynaud
Mario Hacquard as Daladier
Pip Torrens as BBC Producer
Edmund Wiseman as Actor
Hannah Steele as Abigail Walker
Nia Gwynne as Alice Simpson
Ade Dee Haastrup as Marcus Peters
James Eeles as Maurice Baker
Flora Nicholson as Jessie Sutton
Bronte Carmichael as Young Girl on Tube
Roisin O'Neill as Agnes Dillon
John Locke as Oliver Wilson
Jo Neary as Margaret Jerome
Richard Glover as Brigadier Nicholson
Tom Ashley as Ramsay Staffer
Joshua Higgott as Reporter
Imogen King as Teenage Girl at Tube Map
Miles Gallant as Naval Map-Room Officer
Faye Marsay as Sybil
John Atterbury as Sir Alexander Cadogan
James Harkness as AD Nicholl (Secretary #1)
Joshua James as W D Wilkinson (Secretary #2)
Charley Palmer Rothwell as Christopher Wilson (Photographer)
Patsy Ferran as Maid
Sarah Flind as Cook
Steffan Donnelly as Back Bencher
Kieran Buckeridge as Cecil Beaton
Johnny Otto as Member of Parliament (uncredited)
Nick Howden-Steenstra as Sentry (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 128

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	20
4 to 6	19	27
7 to 9	6	4
10 to 12	12	21
13 to 15	0	36
16 to 18	1	16
19 to 21	5	6
22 to 24	0	6
25 to 27	1	3
28 to 30	2	10
31 to 33	0	4
34 to 36	0	14
37 to 39	4	28
40 to 42	0	12
43 to 45	0	10
46 to 48	0	5
49 to 51	0	17
52 to 54	11	24
55 to 57	0	4
58 to 60	1	1
61 to 63	0	0
64 to 66	9	9
67 to 69	0	56
70 to 72	0	37
73 to 75	0	4
76 to 78	0	13
79 to 81	0	36
82 to 84	3	4
85 to 87	2	7
88 to 90	0	1
91 to 93	3	1
94 to 96	0	5
97 to 99	3	44
100 to 102	0	3
103 to 105	14	54
106 to 108	0	2
109 to 111	0	5
112 to 114	16	36
115 to 117	0	4
118 to 120	0	19
121 to 123	2	4
124 to 126	0	2
127 to 128	0	7

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.

114 lines from women, 621 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

16 women and 41 men in the cast. 8 women and 40 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 28 of 777. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 160 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 11% of the words (916), men 89% (7,676). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 41% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Joe Wright (man)
Written by: Anthony McCarten (man)
Produced by: Tim Bevan (man), Lisa Bruce (woman), Eric Fellner (man), Anthony McCarten (man), Douglas Urbanski (man)
Shot by: Bruno Delbonnel (man)
Edited by: Valerio Bonelli (man)
Music by: Dario Marianelli (man)
Production design by: Sarah Greenwood (woman)
Costumes by: Jacqueline Durran (woman)
Cast by: Jina Jay (woman)