Fails the Bechdel test
Dunkirk
2017. Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Christopher Nolan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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 0 out of 3.
The film
May/June 1940. Four hundred thousand British and French soldiers are holed up in the French port town of Dunkirk. The only way out is via sea, and the Germans have air superiority, bombing the British soldiers and ships without much opposition. The situation looks dire and, in desperation, Britain sends civilian boats in addition to its hard-pressed Navy to try to evacuate the beleaguered forces. This is that story, seen through the eyes of a soldier amongst those trapped forces, two Royal Air Force fighter pilots, and a group of civilians on their boat, part of the evacuation fleet.
- Released
- 21 Jul 2017
- Genres
- Action, Drama, History
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 94 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 69 wins & 237 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Alex 51 lines, man
- Tommy 44 lines, man
- Mr. Dawson 42 lines, man
- Peter 39 lines, man
- Commander Bolton 36 lines, man
- Collins 32 lines, man
- Farrier 27 lines, man
- Colonel Winnant 23 lines, man
- Shivering Soldier 19 lines, man
- George 13 lines, man
Full cast, 50 people
- Fionn Whitehead as Tommy
- Tom Hardy as Farrier
- Mark Rylance as Mr. Dawson
- Kenneth Branagh as Commander Bolton
- Cillian Murphy as Shivering Soldier
- Barry Keoghan as George
- Harry Styles as Alex
- Aneurin Barnard as Gibson
- Damien Bonnard as French Soldier
- Lee Armstrong as Grenadier
- James Bloor as Irate Soldier
- Tom Glynn-Carney as Peter
- Jack Lowden as Collins
- Luke Thompson as Warrant Officer
- Michel Biel as French Soldier 2
- Constantin Balsan as French Soldier 3
- Billy Howle as Petty Officer
- Mikey Collins as Soldier
- Callum Blake as Stretcher Bearer
- Dean Ridge as Soldier at the Gap
- Bobby Lockwood as Able Seaman
- Will Attenborough as Second Lieutenant
- Tom Nolan as Lieutenant
- James D'Arcy as Colonel Winnant
- Matthew Marsh as Rear Admiral
- Adam Long as Sub-Lieutenant
- Miranda Nolan as Nurse
- Bradley Hall as Sailor
- Jack Cutmore-Scott as Lifeboat Soldier 1
- Brett Lorenzini as Lifeboat Soldier 2
- Michael Fox as Engineer
- Brian Vernel as Highlander 1
- Elliott Tittensor as Highlander 2
- Kevin Guthrie as Highlander 3
- Harry Richardson as Private
- Jochum ten Haaf as Dutch Seaman
- Johnny Gibbon as Junior Naval Officer
- Richard Sanderson as Heinkel Spotter
- Kim Hartman as Stewardess
- Calam Lynch as Deal Sailor
- Charley Palmer Rothwell as Corporal
- Tom Gill as Furious Soldier
- John Nolan as Blind Man
- Bill Milner as Lone Private
- Jack Riddiford as Soldier on RN Launch
- Harry Collett as Boy
- Eric Richard as Man at Railway Window
- Michael Caine as Voice on Radio (uncredited)
- Johnny Otto as Captain Marshall (uncredited)
- Nick Howden-Steenstra as British Soldier (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 198
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 | 9 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 7 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 11 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 8 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 7 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 43 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 13 |
| 51 to 55 | 1 | 7 |
| 56 to 60 | 1 | 10 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 6 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 6 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 3 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 11 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 21 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 21 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 29 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 19 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 11 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 8 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 2 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 46 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 7 |
| 136 to 140 | 0 | 7 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 1 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 1 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 11 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 0 |
| 161 to 165 | 1 | 5 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 5 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 8 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 12 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 15 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 6 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 10 |
| 196 to 198 | 0 | 4 |
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, 1 are women's.
3 lines from women, 402 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
2 women and 44 men in the cast. 2 women and 31 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 129 of 429.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 234 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 1% of the words (26), men 99% (2,791).
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
44
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Written by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Produced by
- Christopher Nolan (man), Emma Thomas (woman)
- Shot by
- Hoyte van Hoytema (man)
- Edited by
- Lee Smith (man)
- Music by
- Hans Zimmer (man)
- Production design by
- Nathan Crowley (man)
- Costumes by
- Jeffrey Kurland (man), Cesha Ventre (woman)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man), Toby Whale (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 31 men, 28 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 12 men, 22 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 5 men, 14 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 16 men, 9 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 10 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 10 men, 4 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 7 men, 8 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Fionn Whitehead 20, Harry Styles 23, Barry Keoghan 24, Aneurin Barnard 30, Damien Bonnard 38, Tom Hardy 39, Cillian Murphy 41, Kenneth Branagh 56, Mark Rylance 57
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $150 million
- Box office
- $549 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 198 scenes and 429 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
