Passes the Bechdel test
Don't Look Up
2021. Directed by Adam McKay, written by Adam McKay and David Sirota.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
41 women characters. 32 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 213. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem - it's on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it's too late proves shockingly comical - what will it take to get the world to just look up?.
- Released
- 24 Dec 2021
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 49 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 4 Oscars. 25 wins & 100 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Randall 238 lines, man
- Kate 175 lines, woman
- President Orlean 92 lines, woman
- Dr. Oglethorpe 88 lines, man
- Jason 56 lines, man
- Brie Evantee 55 lines, woman
- Peter Isherwell 51 lines, man
- Jack Bremmer 29 lines, man
- June 25 lines, woman
- Yule 24 lines, man
Full cast, 135 people
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy
- Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky
- Meryl Streep as President Orlean
- Cate Blanchett as Brie Evantee
- Rob Morgan as Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe
- Jonah Hill as Jason Orlean
- Mark Rylance as Peter Isherwell
- Tyler Perry as Jack Bremmer
- Timothée Chalamet as Yule
- Ron Perlman as Benedict Drask
- Ariana Grande as Riley Bina
- Kid Cudi as DJ Chello
- Himesh Patel as Phillip
- Melanie Lynskey as June Mindy
- Michael Chiklis as Dan Pawketty
- Tomer Sisley as Adul Grelio
- Paul Guilfoyle as General Themes
- Robert Joy as Congressman Tenant
- Jack Alberts as Oliver
- Ting as Win
- Lance A. Williams as Daniel
- Shimali de Silva as Nisha
- Hettienne Park as Dr. Calder
- Rafael Silva as Nasa Scientist
- Lonnie Farmer as Old Aide #1
- Homa Sarabi-Daunis as White House Office Worker
- Barbara Douglass as Office Worker
- Rena Maliszewski as Anchor Reporting On Colon
- Erik Parillo as Sherriff Conlon
- Robert Hurst Radochia as Evan Mindy
- Conor Sweeney as Marshall Mindy
- Ross Partridge as Keith Ollens
- Richard Donelly as Old Aide #2
- Liev Schreiber as Bash Narrator (voice)
- Samsara Yett as Isherwell Child Aide
- Meara Mahoney Gross as Isherwell Child Aide
- Jaden Onwuakor as Isherwell Child Aide
- Staci Roberts as Linda Dicalio
- Wendy Bellevue as Isherwell Child Handler
- Mishka Yarovoy as Executive
- Chris Everett as Chief Editor Paula Woods
- Annette Miller as Mrs. Tanken
- Stephen Thorne as Benjamin
- Aimee Doherty as Passerby
- Natalie Rebenkoff as Talent PA
- Gary Tanguay as News Anchor #2
- Georgia Lyman as Groomer Thalia
- Patricia DeHaney as Hair Person
- Ben Sidell as Stage Manager
- Therese Plaehn as Autopsy Editor In Charge
- Omar Ghonim as Damian
- Jody O'Neil as Stage Manager #2
- Meghan Leathers as Media Quant
- Ashleigh Banfield as Dalia Hensfield
- Sarah Silverman as Sarah Benterman
- Richard Snee as Senator Lerner
- Darryl Wooten as FBI Agent
- Danielle Waxman as College Girl
- Jeffrey Smith as Blind Man FBI Agent
- Jon Glaser as Meow Man
- Dorothy Dwyer as Old Tough Lady
- Odis Spencer as Chief Justice
- Sarah Nolen as Sammy Puppeteer
- Alvin Keith as Harrison Telms
- Alaina Pinto as American Reporter
- Lizzie Short as French Reporter
- Juri Love as Japanese Reporter
- Sujoy De as Hindi Reporter
- Brahms Guignard as Haitian Reporter
- Sergei Bushmanov as Russian Reporter
- Lewis D. Wheeler as Mission Coordinator
- Steve Gagliastro as Onlooker
- David J. Curtis as Guy
- Kevin Craig West as Secretary of State
- Alison Weller as Secretary of Education
- Rob Lévesque as Secretary of Interior
- Sam Zephir as Captain
- Dee Nelson as Dr. Lisa Inez
- Beau Allen as Dr. Talcamont
- Rebecca Gibel as Waitress
- Brian Faherty as Guy from the Bar
- Celeste Oliva as Nearby Diner
- Amanda Cass as Rioting Patron
- Roman Mitichyan as Rioting Patron
- Paul Marini as Rioting Patron
- Alex Huynh as Rioting Patron
- Michael Jibrin as Federal Agent
- Bill Mootos as Federal Attorney
- Patti Tippo as French President
- Allyn Burrows as Mr. Dibiasky
- Tori Davis Lawlor as Mrs. Dibiasky
- Joy Lang as Housewife
- June Holmes as Girl in Commercial
- Graham Holmes as Boy in Commercial
- Jacob Sanditen as Yule's Friend
- Anthony Marrese as Other Friend
- Caroline Bergwall as Teen Girl Friend
- Anania as Short Guy Friend
- Nate Richman as Stocky FBI Agent
- Wes Johnson as Don't Look Up'er
- John Bucy as Don't Look Up'er
- Patrick Gover as Don't Look Up'er
- Conrad Perry as Don't Look Up'er
- Matt Rouillard as Don't Look Up'er
- Christopher Deschenes as Don't Look Up'er
- Patrick Michael Strange as Just Look Up'er
- J.P. Aaron as Just Look Up'er
- Daniela August as Just Look Up'er
- Nicholai Senat as Puppet Show Kid
- Alexandra Zilch as Puppet Show Kid
- Jonathan Kobs as Truthslinger303
- Bianca de la Garza as Entertainment Journalist
- Caitlin Ishibashi as DJ at Concert
- Claire Davis as Bass Player
- Elder Isaiah Perez as Organ Player
- Coran Spardakis Henley as Drummer
- Lance Norris as Loyal Supporter
- Ralph M. Studley as Kid Rock Body Double
- Frank Ridley as Flight Director
- Andrew Haserlat as Mission Tech
- Jayne McLendon as Command Tech
- Ishaan Khatter as Raghav Manavalan
- Khaldoun Rajeh as Egyptian Family
- Sheren Rajeh as Egyptian Family
- Khaled Rajeh as Egyptian Family
- Kareem Rajeh as Egyptian Family
- Ahmad Rajeh as Egyptian Family
- Adila Rajeh as Egyptian Family
- J.T. Turner as Old Billionaire
- Ed Peed as Lobbyist
- Zach Holmes as #LaunchChallenge MeTuber (uncredited)
- Chris Evans as Devin Peters (uncredited)
- Marissa Carpio as Reporter with Big Hair (uncredited)
- André Silva as Man who looks at the sky (uncredited)
- Luan Gallagher as Boy looking at the meteor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 213
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 | 24 | 41 |
| 6 to 10 | 4 | 4 |
| 11 to 15 | 7 | 17 |
| 16 to 20 | 14 | 33 |
| 21 to 25 | 46 | 69 |
| 26 to 30 | 14 | 50 |
| 31 to 35 | 24 | 21 |
| 36 to 40 | 6 | 8 |
| 41 to 45 | 12 | 16 |
| 46 to 50 | 27 | 31 |
| 51 to 55 | 21 | 19 |
| 56 to 60 | 7 | 6 |
| 61 to 65 | 13 | 13 |
| 66 to 70 | 2 | 1 |
| 71 to 75 | 3 | 7 |
| 76 to 80 | 10 | 8 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 2 |
| 86 to 90 | 9 | 13 |
| 91 to 95 | 15 | 13 |
| 96 to 100 | 9 | 9 |
| 101 to 105 | 1 | 1 |
| 106 to 110 | 5 | 18 |
| 111 to 115 | 8 | 15 |
| 116 to 120 | 16 | 27 |
| 121 to 125 | 20 | 32 |
| 126 to 130 | 9 | 7 |
| 131 to 135 | 24 | 20 |
| 136 to 140 | 22 | 37 |
| 141 to 145 | 24 | 38 |
| 146 to 150 | 4 | 4 |
| 151 to 155 | 5 | 20 |
| 156 to 160 | 7 | 5 |
| 161 to 165 | 2 | 6 |
| 166 to 170 | 6 | 18 |
| 171 to 175 | 1 | 7 |
| 176 to 180 | 2 | 8 |
| 181 to 185 | 5 | 8 |
| 186 to 190 | 4 | 10 |
| 191 to 195 | 6 | 7 |
| 196 to 200 | 4 | 11 |
| 201 to 205 | 6 | 7 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 0 |
| 211 to 213 | 2 | 12 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
PRESIDENT ORLEAN: Knock that shit off. KATE: Dr. Mindy is trying to say the comet is headed directly at earth.
PRESIDENT ORLEAN: Call it 70% and let’s move on. KATE: It’s not even close to seventy percent. I’m sorry but are we not being clear?
RILEY BINA: Aw Chell, I know how that girl works it. I hooked up with her at the Music Globes last year. Right before I ran off with that power forward … AUTOPSY EDITOR IN CHARGE: Sonya you see if you can get a quote from Lady Boutique... Damain, get a list going: ”Celebs who got it right the second time.”
KATE: Well maybe the destruction of the entire planet isn’t supposed to be fun. KATE: Maybe it’s supposed to be incredibly terrifying... and upsetting...and maybe we’re supposed to stay up all night every night crying... when … BRIE EVANTEE: Is she always like that?
MEDIA QUANT: I apologize. In my business you don’t see “bomb engagements” like this very often. That’s what we call them: bomb engagements. And that one.… CHIEF EDITOR PAULA WOODS: Erin, let’s move on. MEDIA QUANT: Okay, the Herald article did get some pick up in certain scientific circles... And in some religious and fringe end times sites.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.
450 lines from women, 699 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
41 women and 67 men in the cast. 32 women and 53 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,244.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 29 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 39% of the words (6,597), men 61% (10,384).
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
22
Two men
129
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Adam McKay (man)
- Written by
- Adam McKay (man)
- Story by
- Adam McKay (man), David Sirota (man)
- Produced by
- Adam McKay (man), Kevin J. Messick (man)
- Shot by
- Linus Sandgren (man)
- Edited by
- Hank Corwin (man)
- Music by
- Nicholas Britell (man)
- Production design by
- Clayton Hartley (man)
- Costumes by
- Susan Matheson (woman)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
10 women, 18 men, 12 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 8 men, 22 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 3 men, 17 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 13 men, 4 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 4 men, 13 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 8 men
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 52 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Lawrence 31, Cate Blanchett 52, Meryl Streep 72
Men
Timothée Chalamet 25, Jonah Hill 37, Leonardo DiCaprio 47, Rob Morgan 48, Tyler Perry 52, Mark Rylance 61, Ron Perlman 71
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $75 million
- Box office
- $791,863
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 213 scenes and 1,244 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
