Fails the Bechdel test

Emancipation

Name: Emancipation
Released: 2022

2022. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by Bill Collage.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
6 women characters. 2 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Over 150 years from today, back in 1863 at Lousiana, a black slave, Gordon, had dreamt of the freedom of black people. Freedom means living their life to the fullest, just like their "White" masters: who considered themselves god of 'these Animals'. 'Emancipation' is a tale of a black slave who fought his whole life to live with honor, dignity, and of course, a "Normal life" This is the tale of a person who risked his life to join the Lincoln Army, fighting to free his fellow brothers-sisters-sons-daughters. This image of Gordon was taken in 1863 after he managed to be free from his slave master. This is the most accurate depiction of slavery I've seen.

Released: 09 Dec 2022
Genres: Action, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 53 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 10 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Peter 96 lines, man
Dodienne 24 lines, woman
Gordon 21 lines, man
Hurley 18 lines, man
John 17 lines, man
Tomas 17 lines, man
Fassel 15 lines, man
Halstead 14 lines, man
Betsy 13 lines, woman
Cailloux 11 lines, man

Full cast, 56 people

Will Smith as Peter
Ben Foster as Jim Fassel
Charmaine Bingwa as Dodienne
Gilbert Owuor as Gordon
Ronnie Gene Blevins as Harrington
Aaron Moten as Knowls
Jabbar Lewis as Tomas
Michael Luwoye as John
Steven Ogg as Howard
Grant Harvey as Leeds
Mustafa Shakir as Lt. Andrew Cailloux
Paul Ben-Victor as Major G. Halstead
David Denman as General William Dwight
Jesse C. Boyd as Mike Hurley
Imani Pullum as Betsy
Jeremiah Friedlander as Scipion
Jordyn McIntosh as Laurette
Landon Chase Dubois as Little Peter
Austin Alexander as Trapp
Britton Webb as Bijoux
Jayson Warner Smith as Captain John Lyons
Jeremy Dean as Confederate Army Engineer
Thomas Johnston as RR Confederate Soldier
Clyde Jones as Priest
Jared Bankens as Deserter #1
Josh Whites as Deserter #2
Jeff Pearson as Deserter #3
Merah Benoit as Young Thomas Girl
Sheridan Walker as Mitilde
Mark Ashworth as R Louis Fabian
K. Steele as Sister Margaret
Walker Babington as McPherson
Dave Davis as Oliver
Jason Dowies as Confederate Gunnery
Donald Paul as Anselino Planciancois
Damien D. Smith as Sgt Maj James Ingraham
Joshua Stenvick as Confederate Officer - TRB
Adam Stephenson as Col John Thomas
Melissa Lehman as Mrs John Thomas
Joe Lyle as LNG Drummer
Brandon Dauphin as Enslaved Shirtless Man
Bryan Jonathan Allen as LNG Soldier #1
Kenneth Walter Jones as LNG Soldier #2
Ruby Lain Stansberry Faiferek as Screaming Enslaved Woman
Hick Cheramie as Jail Cart Soldier
Gregory Kennedy as Jail Cart Enslaved / Dying Man
Derome Alexander Seals as Enslaved Man #1
Bathsheba Lofton Smith as Enslaved Woman #1
Romalace James as Enslaved Man #2
Clarence Joseph Morgan III as Enslaved Man #3
Jocelyne Croisier as Enslaved Woman #2
Scierra Lynn LeGarde as Enslaved Woman #3
Anika Simone Ofori as Enslaved Woman #4
Dominicia Hayes as Enslaved Woman #5
Ja'Ques Austin as Young LNG Soldier
Harlan Glenn Groom as Union Soldier #1

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 153

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 4	2	11
5 to 8	0	16
9 to 12	0	23
13 to 16	0	29
17 to 20	0	3
21 to 24	0	7
25 to 28	0	1
29 to 32	0	19
33 to 36	0	2
37 to 40	0	1
41 to 44	3	1
45 to 48	0	0
49 to 52	0	5
53 to 56	0	4
57 to 60	0	9
61 to 64	8	11
65 to 68	0	1
69 to 72	18	3
73 to 76	1	0
77 to 80	5	0
81 to 84	0	0
85 to 88	0	17
89 to 92	0	0
93 to 96	0	1
97 to 100	0	7
101 to 104	0	1
105 to 108	0	0
109 to 112	0	2
113 to 116	0	4
117 to 120	0	12
121 to 124	0	12
125 to 128	0	5
129 to 132	0	10
133 to 136	0	38
137 to 140	0	8
141 to 144	0	24
145 to 148	0	3
149 to 152	0	5
153 to 153	0	1

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, 11 are women's.

37 lines from women, 296 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 29 men in the cast. 2 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 15 of 354. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 161 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 8% of the words (187), men 92% (2,197). Women have 11% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua (man)
Written by: Bill Collage (man)
Produced by: Will Smith (man), Jon Mone (man), Joey McFarland (man), Todd Black (man)
Shot by: Robert Richardson (man)
Edited by: Conrad Buff IV (man)
Music by: Marcelo Zarvos (man)
Production design by: Naomi Shohan (woman)
Costumes by: Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (woman)