Fails the Bechdel test
Deception
2008. Directed by Marcel Langenegger, written by Mark Bomback.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
24 women characters. 10 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
Cat and mouse. Jonathan McQuarry is an auditor in Manhattan, moving from office to office checking their books. While working late, a smooth and well-dressed man named Wyatt Bose chats Jonathan up, offers him a joint, and soon they're pals. When their cell phones are accidentally swapped, Jonathan answers Wyatt's phone to a series of women asking if he's free tonight. Jonathan discovers it's a sex club: busy powerful people meet each other anonymously in hotels. Jonathan falls for one of the club members, whom he knows only as "S," whom he's also seen on a subway. When she goes missing, patterns emerge and Jonathan faces demands involving violence and lots of money.
- Released
- 25 Apr 2008
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6 / 10
- Metascore
- 31 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jonathan 356 lines, man
- Wyatt 123 lines, man
- Russo 28 lines, woman
- British Accent 15 lines
- Solange 13 lines, woman
- Black Business Suit 11 lines
- Receptionist 9 lines, woman
- The Blonde 8 lines
- Woman 8 lines, woman
- Teller 7 lines
Full cast, 39 people
- Ewan McGregor as Jonathan McQuarry
- Hugh Jackman as Wyatt Bose
- Michelle Williams as S
- Natasha Henstridge as Simone Wilkinson
- Charlotte Rampling as Wall Street Belle
- Bruce Altman as Lawyer #1
- Andrew Ginsburg as Lawyer #2
- Stephanie Roth Haberle as Assistant Controller
- Dante Spinotti as Herr Kleiner / Mr. Moretti
- Karolina Muller as Waitress
- Deborah Yates as Tango Dancer
- LisaGay Hamilton as Detective Russo
- Frank Girardeau as Norbert Lewman
- Melissa Rae Mahon as Velvet Rope Dancer #1
- Rachel Montez Collins as Velvet Rope Dancer #2
- Holly Cruikshank as Velvet Rope Dancer #3
- Bill Camp as Clancey Controller
- Zoe Perry as Secretary #1
- Aya Cash as Secretary #2
- Malcolm Goodwin as Cabbie
- Maggie Q as Tina at the Rhigha Royal
- Paz de la Huerta as List Member #1
- Daisy Bates as List Member #2
- Shannan Click as List Member #3
- Jordan Tesfay as List Member #4
- Rachael Taylor as List Member #5
- David Deblinger as Slimy Billionaire
- Paul Sparks as Detective Burke
- Kenneth Lee as Waiter
- James Mazzola as Locksmith
- Agnete Oernsholt as Woman at Waldorf Astoria
- Lisa Kron as Receptionist
- Margaret Colin as Ms. Pomerantz
- Lynn Cohen as Woman
- Frank Deal as Police Officer
- Florencia Lozano as Clancey Receptionist
- Emelie Jeffries as Medical Examiner (as Emilie Jeffries)
- Christine Kan as Tennis Player #1
- Peter Jay Fernandez as Businessman on Airplane
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 197
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 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 to 10 | 4 | 8 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 33 |
| 16 to 20 | 1 | 8 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 32 |
| 26 to 30 | 1 | 55 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 19 |
| 36 to 40 | 1 | 18 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 12 |
| 46 to 50 | 1 | 14 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 2 |
| 56 to 60 | 1 | 0 |
| 61 to 65 | 6 | 2 |
| 66 to 70 | 1 | 41 |
| 71 to 75 | 1 | 24 |
| 76 to 80 | 1 | 38 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 10 |
| 86 to 90 | 8 | 7 |
| 91 to 95 | 1 | 5 |
| 96 to 100 | 10 | 4 |
| 101 to 105 | 13 | 28 |
| 106 to 110 | 4 | 2 |
| 111 to 115 | 6 | 10 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 12 |
| 121 to 125 | 5 | 12 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 5 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 1 |
| 136 to 140 | 0 | 1 |
| 141 to 145 | 2 | 6 |
| 146 to 150 | 1 | 3 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 9 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 6 |
| 161 to 165 | 2 | 25 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 11 |
| 171 to 175 | 1 | 23 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 9 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 0 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 2 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 11 |
| 196 to 197 | 0 | 5 |
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, 12 are women's.
72 lines from women, 518 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
24 women and 12 men in the cast. 10 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 681.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 60 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (1,207), men 88% (8,866).
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
30
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 19 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Marcel Langenegger (man)
- Written by
- Mark Bomback (man)
- Produced by
- Arnold Rifkin (man), David L. Bushell (man), Denise O'Dell (woman), John Palermo (gender not listed), Robbie Brenner (woman), Christopher Eberts (man) and 3 more
- Shot by
- Dante Spinotti (man)
- Edited by
- Christian Wagner (man), Douglas Crise (man)
- Music by
- Ramin Djawadi (man)
- Production design by
- Patrizia von Brandenstein (woman)
- Costumes by
- Sue Gandy (woman), Anna Bingemann (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Bonnie Timmermann (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Michelle Williams 27, Karolina Muller 27, Natasha Henstridge 33, Stephanie Roth Haberle 45, Charlotte Rampling 62
Men
Ewan McGregor 37, Hugh Jackman 39, Bruce Altman 52, Dante Spinotti 64
Exhibit G: the money
It made 72% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $18 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 197 scenes and 681 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
