Fails the Bechdel test
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
2014. Directed by Matt Reeves, written by Mark Bomback and Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 3 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 1 out of 3.
The film
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.
- Released
- 11 Jul 2014
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 17 wins & 48 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Malcolm 117 lines, man
- Caesar 63 lines, man
- Koba 56 lines, man
- Ellie 54 lines, woman
- Dreyfus 43 lines, man
- Carver 25 lines, man
- Alexander 18 lines, man
- Mcveigh 12 lines, man
- River 12 lines, man
- Terry 11 lines, man
Full cast, 54 people
- Andy Serkis as Caesar
- Jason Clarke as Malcolm
- Toby Kebbell as Koba
- Gary Oldman as Dreyfus
- Keri Russell as Ellie
- Kodi Smit-McPhee as Alexander
- Nick Thurston as Blue Eyes
- Karin Konoval as Maurice
- Terry Notary as Rocket
- Doc Shaw as Ash
- Judy Greer as Cornelia
- Lee Ross as Grey
- Richard King as Stone
- Scott Lang as Luca
- Kirk Acevedo as Carver
- Jon Eyez as Foster
- Enrique Murciano as Kemp
- Keir O'Donnell as Finney
- Kevin Rankin as McVeigh
- Jocko Sims as Werner
- Al Vicente as Man 1
- Matthew James as Man 2
- Deneen Tyler as Woman
- Mustafa Harris as Officer
- Lombardo Boyar as Terry
- Mike Seal as Driver
- J.D. Evermore as Sniper
- Chase Boltin as Recruit
- Michael Papajohn as Cannon-Gunner
- Thomas Rosales Jr. as Old Man
- Carol Sutton as Old Woman
- Christopher Berry as Gun-Clinching Man
- Sergio Kato as Colony Survivor (uncredited)
- Michael Bloomberg as Self (archival footage)
- John L. Armijo as Dreyfus' Officer (uncredited)
- Joe Bravo as City Hall Colonist (uncredited)
- Steve D'Assis as Survivor (uncredited)
- Mike R. Moreau as Human Survivor (Courthouse) (uncredited)
- Jazzy Ellis as Human Colony (uncredited)
- Lucky Johnson as Rationer (uncredited)
- Allyson Leigh Jordan as Human Colonist (uncredited)
- Angela Kerecz as Captured Human (uncredited)
- Bobby Kerecz as Captured Human (uncredited)
- Anthony A. Kung as Colony Member (uncredited)
- John R Mangus as Dreyfus Officer (uncredited)
- John Parsons as Human Colony Member (uncredited)
- Mel Powell as Driver (uncredited)
- Carl Joseph Schreiber as Human Colonist (uncredited)
- Timothy Wyant as Attacked First Running Colonist (uncredited)
- Lynnanne Zager as Newscaster (voice) (uncredited)
- Barack Obama as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Caleb Wiley as Human Colonist (uncredited)
- James Franco as Will Rodman
- Nicolas Uribe as Background Monkey
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 161
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 | 2 |
| 5 to 8 | 5 | 14 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 17 |
| 17 to 20 | 4 | 13 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 12 |
| 25 to 28 | 1 | 12 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 30 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 9 |
| 37 to 40 | 1 | 15 |
| 41 to 44 | 12 | 38 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 5 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 15 |
| 53 to 56 | 3 | 6 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 8 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 15 |
| 65 to 68 | 6 | 16 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 18 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 4 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 10 |
| 81 to 84 | 1 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 3 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 5 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 2 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 4 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 6 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 10 |
| 109 to 112 | 8 | 11 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 4 |
| 117 to 120 | 5 | 10 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 3 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 6 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 1 |
| 133 to 136 | 4 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 15 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 4 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 22 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 24 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 15 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 9 |
| 161 to 161 | 0 | 0 |
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, 14 are women's.
67 lines from women, 421 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
8 women and 36 men in the cast. 3 women and 32 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 15 of 504.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 95 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 9% of the words (393), men 91% (3,892). Women have 14% 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
0
Two men
63
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Matt Reeves (man)
- Written by
- Mark Bomback (man), Rick Jaffa (man), Amanda Silver (woman)
- Produced by
- Peter Chernin (man), Dylan Clark (man), Rick Jaffa (man), Amanda Silver (woman)
- Shot by
- Michael Seresin (man)
- Edited by
- William Hoy (man), Stan Salfas (man)
- Music by
- Michael Giacchino (man)
- Production design by
- James Chinlund (man)
- Costumes by
- Melissa Bruning (woman)
- Cast by
- Meagan Lewis (woman), Debra Zane (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
20 women, 91 men, 56 not listed
-
Visual Effects
11 women, 26 men, 108 not listed
-
Art
9 women, 24 men, 60 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 21 men, 46 not listed
-
Sound
10 women, 38 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
19 women, 9 men, 26 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 11 men, 38 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
15 women, 3 men, 29 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 46 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Keri Russell 38, Karin Konoval 53
Men
Kodi Smit-McPhee 18, Doc Shaw 22, Nick Thurston 26, Toby Kebbell 31, Jason Clarke 44, Terry Notary 45, Andy Serkis 50, Gary Oldman 56
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $170 million
- Box office
- $711 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 161 scenes and 504 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
