Passes the Bechdel test
Elvis
2022. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, written by Baz Luhrmann and Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
34 women characters. 14 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 264. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Elvis follows the story of infamous rock 'n' roll star Elvis Presley seen through the eyes of his controversial manager Colonel Tom Parker. The film explores Elvis Presley's highs and lows and the many challenges and controversies he received throughout his career.
- Released
- 24 Jun 2022
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Music
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 64 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 8 Oscars. 97 wins & 237 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Elvis 384 lines, man
- Colonel 229 lines, man
- Old Colonel 127 lines, man
- Priscilla 56 lines, woman
- Gladys 39 lines, woman
- Jerry 34 lines, man
- Vernon 34 lines, man
- Binder 19 lines, man
- Scotty 19 lines, man
- Charlie 18 lines, man
Full cast, 97 people
- Austin Butler as Elvis Presley
- Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker
- Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla
- Helen Thomson as Gladys Presley
- Richard Roxburgh as Vernon Presley
- Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King
- David Wenham as Hank Snow
- Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jimmie Rodgers Snow
- Luke Bracey as Jerry Schilling
- Dacre Montgomery as Steve Binder
- Leon Ford as Tom Diskin
- Gary Clark Jr. as Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup
- Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Natasha Bassett as Dixie Locke
- Xavier Samuel as Scotty Moore
- Adam Dunn as Bill Black
- Alton Mason as Little Richard
- Shonka Dukureh as Big Mama Thornton / Pentecostal Singer
- David Gannon as Charlie Hodge
- Shannon Sanders as Pentecostal Pastor / Pentecostal Singer
- Charles Grounds as Cousin Billy
- Josh McConville as Sam Phillips
- Kate Mulvany as Marion Keisker
- Gareth Davies as Bones Howe
- Chaydon Jay as Young Elvis
- Christian Kisando as Shake Rag Friend - Smoky
- John Mukristayo as Shake Rag Friend - Jimmy
- Miles Burton as Shake Rag Friend - Bobby
- Gad Banza as Shake Rag Friend - Doc
- Aristene Kisando as Sweet Inspiratons - Myrna
- Senayt Mebrahtu as Sweet Inspiratons - Estelle
- Princess Mariama Andrews as Sweet Inspiratons - Cissy
- Sharon Brooks as Sweet Inspiratons - Sylvia
- Nicholas Bell as Senator Eastland
- Anthony Phelan as Meyer Kohn
- Sandro Colarelli as Tony Goochera
- Cle Morgan as Mahalia Jackson
- Charles Allen as Reverend Brewster
- Natalie Bassingthwaighte as Dee Stanley
- Liz Blackett as Grandma Dodger
- Mike Bingaman as Sonny West
- Christian McCarty as Red West
- Tony Nixon as Dr. Nick
- Andrea Moor as Nurse Tish
- Mark Leonard Winter as Tom Hulett
- Hugh Parker as Singer Senior Exec
- Thomas Larkin as Singer Junior Exec
- Hilton Hyppolite Denis as Claude Thompson
- Christopher Sommers as Horace Logan
- Brad Leaver as Chief of Police
- Simon Mallory as NBC Floor Manager
- Terepai Richmond as DJ Fontana
- Alex Knight as Ron Tutt
- Jordan A. Holland as Pentecostal Singer
- Lenesha Randolph as Pentecostal Singer
- Elizabeth Cullen as Natalie - Motel Girl
- Angie Milliken as Madam Z
- Luke Corrin Care as Aladdin Croupier
- Jack McGirr as Tommy (Hayride)
- Miranda Frangou as Nell (Tommy's Girlfriend)
- Lakota Johnson as Young Hip Man
- Ruby Gonzales-Judd as Girl (Russwood)
- Greg Powell as Milton Berle
- Patrick Shearer as DJ Dewey Philips
- Sarah Ogden as Mrs. Eastland
- Iain Gardiner as Carny Fixer
- Melina Vidler as Barbara - Vegas Penthouse
- Traneshia Chiles as Pentecostal Singer
- Lauren McClinton as Pentecostal Singer
- Gary Haile as Pentecostal Singer
- Kellee Halford as Pentecostal Singer
- Angela Hill as Pentecostal Singer
- Jamiah Hudson as Pentecostal Singer
- Norris Jones as Pentecostal Singer
- Stephen Ladson as Pentecostal Singer
- Alfreda McCrary as Pentecostal Singer
- Angela McCrary as Pentecostal Singer
- Beverly Ann McCrary as Pentecostal Singer
- Keb' Mo' as Pentecostal Singer
- Tamica Nicole as Pentecostal Singer
- Marqo Patton as Pentecostal Singer
- Robert Randolph as Pentecostal Singer
- Calvin Settles II as Pentecostal Singer
- Calvin V. Settles, Sr. as Pentecostal Singer
- Ira Wayne Settles, Sr. as Pentecostal Singer
- Odessa L. Settles as Pentecostal Singer
- Sara Settles as Pentecostal Singer
- Shirley M. Settles as Pentecostal Singer
- Jacqueline Smith-Jefferson as Pentecostal Singer
- Torshia Suggs as Pentecostal Singer
- Cameron Keith Walls as Pentecostal Singer
- Andrea Baker as Pentecostal Singer
- Libe Barer as Pentecostal Singer
- Doug Burch as Pentecostal Singer
- Cathy Cavadini as Pentecostal Singer
- Elvis Presley as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Bianca Wallace as Script Supervisor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 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 264
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 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 to 12 | 2 | 7 |
| 13 to 18 | 0 | 62 |
| 19 to 24 | 7 | 34 |
| 25 to 30 | 2 | 6 |
| 31 to 36 | 3 | 45 |
| 37 to 42 | 21 | 21 |
| 43 to 48 | 7 | 57 |
| 49 to 54 | 0 | 13 |
| 55 to 60 | 1 | 47 |
| 61 to 66 | 2 | 24 |
| 67 to 72 | 1 | 19 |
| 73 to 78 | 2 | 13 |
| 79 to 84 | 1 | 2 |
| 85 to 90 | 2 | 27 |
| 91 to 96 | 6 | 19 |
| 97 to 102 | 3 | 30 |
| 103 to 108 | 1 | 27 |
| 109 to 114 | 3 | 20 |
| 115 to 120 | 0 | 17 |
| 121 to 126 | 10 | 15 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 8 |
| 133 to 138 | 3 | 45 |
| 139 to 144 | 5 | 6 |
| 145 to 150 | 5 | 42 |
| 151 to 156 | 0 | 11 |
| 157 to 162 | 0 | 18 |
| 163 to 168 | 0 | 20 |
| 169 to 174 | 0 | 22 |
| 175 to 180 | 0 | 22 |
| 181 to 186 | 1 | 6 |
| 187 to 192 | 7 | 29 |
| 193 to 198 | 4 | 15 |
| 199 to 204 | 4 | 48 |
| 205 to 210 | 0 | 4 |
| 211 to 216 | 0 | 7 |
| 217 to 222 | 5 | 36 |
| 223 to 228 | 12 | 38 |
| 229 to 234 | 1 | 14 |
| 235 to 240 | 6 | 12 |
| 241 to 246 | 6 | 45 |
| 247 to 252 | 0 | 15 |
| 253 to 258 | 0 | 32 |
| 259 to 264 | 7 | 29 |
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.
GLADYS: I'll do that, Dixie, honey. What you gonna see at the movies? DIXIE: Um, I'm not sure!
MAHALIA: Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho MAHALIA AND CHOIR: Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 12 are women's.
140 lines from women, 1033 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
34 women and 33 men in the cast. 14 women and 30 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 14 of 1,239.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 116 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 10% of the words (1,601), men 90% (13,680). Women have 12% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
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
5
Two men
60
Exhibit F: behind the camera
8 of the 21 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Baz Luhrmann (man)
- Written by
- Jeremy Doner (man), Sam Bromell (man), Baz Luhrmann (man), Craig Pearce (man)
- Story by
- Baz Luhrmann (man), Jeremy Doner (man)
- Produced by
- Patrick McCormick (man), Gail Berman (woman), Schuyler Weiss (man), Catherine Martin (woman), Baz Luhrmann (man)
- Shot by
- Mandy Walker (woman)
- Edited by
- Jonathan Redmond (man), Matt Villa (man)
- Music by
- Elliott Wheeler (man)
- Production design by
- Karen Murphy (woman), Catherine Martin (woman)
- Costumes by
- Catherine Martin (woman)
- Cast by
- Nikki Barrett (woman), Denise Chamian (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
10 women, 6 men, 26 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 3 men, 27 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 18 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
5 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 6 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Olivia DeJonge 24
Men
Kodi Smit-McPhee 26, Kelvin Harrison Jr. 27, Dacre Montgomery 27, Austin Butler 30, Luke Bracey 33, David Wenham 56, Richard Roxburgh 60, Tom Hanks 65
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $85 million
- Box office
- $289 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 264 scenes and 1,239 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
