Passes the Bechdel test
Elysium
2013. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, written by Neill Blomkamp.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 211. -
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
In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Delacourt, a government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn't stop the people of Earth from trying to get in by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
- Released
- 09 Aug 2013
- Genres
- Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 61 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 10 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Max 153 lines, man
- Frey 92 lines, woman
- Spider 80 lines, man
- Kruger 52 lines, man
- Rhodes 50 lines, woman
- Julio 39 lines, man
- Nun 18 lines, woman
- Matilda 15 lines, woman
- Sandro 14 lines, man
- Carlyle 11 lines, man
Full cast, 31 people
- Matt Damon as Max
- Jodie Foster as Delacourt
- Sharlto Copley as Kruger
- Diego Luna as Julio
- Wagner Moura as Spider
- Alice Braga as Frey
- William Fichtner as John Carlyle
- Jose Pablo Cantillo as Sandro
- Faran Tahir as President Patel
- Maxwell Perry Cotton as Young Max
- Brandon Auret as Drake
- Josh Blacker as Crowe
- Emma Tremblay as Matilda
- Adrian Holmes as Manuel
- Jared Keeso as Rico
- Michael Shanks as CCB Agent
- Carly Pope as CCB Agent
- Ona Grauer as CCB Agent
- Terry Chen as Technician
- Chris Shields as Dr. Faizel
- Christina Cox as CCB Agent
- Derek Gilroy as Pablo
- Yolanda Abbud L. as Nun
- Claire Smithies as Crew member
- Tiffani Timms as Crew Member
- Stephen Chang as Asian Boss
- Fraser Aitcheson as Spider's Ship Rider
- Angelina Pratap as Illegal Daughter
- Valentina Girón as Young Frey
- Tracy Waterhouse as Nurse
- Bảo Hòa as Supermodel
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 18% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 211
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 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 to 10 | 3 | 1 |
| 11 to 15 | 4 | 1 |
| 16 to 20 | 2 | 8 |
| 21 to 25 | 10 | 6 |
| 26 to 30 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 to 40 | 8 | 9 |
| 41 to 45 | 4 | 9 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 30 |
| 51 to 55 | 7 | 0 |
| 56 to 60 | 4 | 15 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 9 |
| 66 to 70 | 1 | 51 |
| 71 to 75 | 12 | 19 |
| 76 to 80 | 3 | 13 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 0 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 8 |
| 91 to 95 | 1 | 4 |
| 96 to 100 | 8 | 13 |
| 101 to 105 | 1 | 10 |
| 106 to 110 | 1 | 6 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 3 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 4 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 3 |
| 126 to 130 | 6 | 2 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 2 |
| 136 to 140 | 16 | 15 |
| 141 to 145 | 24 | 11 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 2 |
| 151 to 155 | 14 | 45 |
| 156 to 160 | 2 | 4 |
| 161 to 165 | 4 | 16 |
| 166 to 170 | 3 | 2 |
| 171 to 175 | 7 | 6 |
| 176 to 180 | 3 | 8 |
| 181 to 185 | 4 | 2 |
| 186 to 190 | 17 | 27 |
| 191 to 195 | 1 | 0 |
| 196 to 200 | 3 | 19 |
| 201 to 205 | 6 | 5 |
| 206 to 210 | 1 | 9 |
| 211 to 211 | 1 | 1 |
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.
FREY: Hey sweetie. MATILDA: Hi. FREY: So, remember how mommy said we could go home when you get better? MATILDA: Am I better? Can we go?
MATILDA: Mommy! FREY: It's ok swee t ie, it's ok. MATILDA: No! MOMMY!! FREY: Run, Matilda! RUN I'LL COMEFOR YOU! GO1
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
186 lines from women, 403 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 18 men in the cast. 4 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 77 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 32% of the words (2,202), men 68% (4,665).
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
44
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Neill Blomkamp (man)
- Written by
- Neill Blomkamp (man)
- Produced by
- Simon Kinberg (man), Bill Block (man), Neill Blomkamp (man)
- Shot by
- Trent Opaloch (man)
- Edited by
- Julian Clarke (man), Lee Smith (man)
- Music by
- Ryan Amon (man)
- Production design by
- Philip Ivey (man)
- Costumes by
- April Ferry (woman), Giorgio Armani (man)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman), Candice Elzinga (woman), Alejandro Reza (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
11 women, 41 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 13 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 10 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
11 women, 3 men
-
Sound
2 women, 9 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alice Braga 30, Jodie Foster 50
Men
Maxwell Perry Cotton 13, Diego Luna 33, Jose Pablo Cantillo 34, Wagner Moura 37, Sharlto Copley 39, Matt Damon 42, Faran Tahir 50, William Fichtner 56
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $115 million
- Box office
- $286 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 211 scenes and 715 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
