Passes the Bechdel test
Empire of Light
2022. Directed by Sam Mendes, written by Sam Mendes.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 187. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Hilary (Olivia Colman) is a cinema manager struggling with her mental health, and Stephen (Micheal Ward) is a new employee longing to escape the provincial town where he faces daily adversity. Together they find a sense of belonging and experience the healing power of music, cinema, and community.
- Released
- 09 Dec 2022
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 54 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 39 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Hilary 290 lines, woman
- Stephen 246 lines, man
- Neil 62 lines, man
- Norman 54 lines, man
- Ellis 41 lines
- Delia 26 lines, woman
- Janine 19 lines, woman
- Laird 16 lines, man
- Ruby 16 lines, woman
- Rosemary 11 lines, woman
Full cast, 35 people
- Olivia Colman as Hilary
- Micheal Ward as Stephen
- Toby Jones as Norman
- Colin Firth as Donald Ellis
- Tom Brooke as Neil
- Tanya Moodie as Delia
- Hannah Onslow as Janine
- Crystal Clarke as Ruby
- Monica Dolan as Rosemary Bates
- Ron Cook as Mr. Cooper
- Sara Stewart as Brenda Ellis
- Justin Edwards as Jim Booth
- Roman Hayeck-Green as Frankie
- Brian Fletcher as Brian
- Dougie Boyall as Finn
- William Chubb as Doctor Laird
- Spike Leighton as Mikey
- Jacob Avery as Colin
- Jamie Whitelaw as Sean
- Dylan Blore as Pogo
- Adrian McLoughlin as Bill
- D.J. Bailey as Mr. Podd
- Tom Colley as Paramedic
- Mark Goldthorp as Ballroom Instructor
- Rod Arthur as Mayor
- Mark Field as Constable Bramah
- Tim Samuels as Receiving Doctor
- Dawn Murphy as Nurse
- Ashleigh Reynolds as Trevor
- George Whitehead as Martin
- Sam Boskovic as Chas
- Mark Collier as Premiere Guest (uncredited)
- Caroline Glass as Premiere Guest (uncredited)
- Eliza Glock as Brandy (uncredited)
- George Greenland as Ryan (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 187
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 3 | 2 |
| 13 to 16 | 4 | 5 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 10 | 14 |
| 29 to 32 | 9 | 5 |
| 33 to 36 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 to 40 | 5 | 9 |
| 41 to 44 | 7 | 6 |
| 45 to 48 | 6 | 13 |
| 49 to 52 | 12 | 26 |
| 53 to 56 | 17 | 8 |
| 57 to 60 | 25 | 22 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 7 |
| 65 to 68 | 13 | 13 |
| 69 to 72 | 8 | 5 |
| 73 to 76 | 24 | 23 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 15 |
| 81 to 84 | 5 | 8 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 0 |
| 89 to 92 | 3 | 5 |
| 93 to 96 | 17 | 16 |
| 97 to 100 | 2 | 5 |
| 101 to 104 | 8 | 25 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 11 |
| 109 to 112 | 3 | 1 |
| 113 to 116 | 23 | 10 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 17 |
| 121 to 124 | 40 | 21 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 3 |
| 129 to 132 | 15 | 13 |
| 133 to 136 | 14 | 17 |
| 137 to 140 | 11 | 23 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 13 | 3 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 15 | 17 |
| 157 to 160 | 13 | 8 |
| 161 to 164 | 4 | 2 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 0 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 0 |
| 173 to 176 | 12 | 11 |
| 177 to 180 | 14 | 13 |
| 181 to 184 | 3 | 0 |
| 185 to 187 | 4 | 0 |
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.
HILARY: Just stay quiet. They’ll go away. ROSEMARY: Miss Small? Hilary? It’s Rosemary Bates here, Kent Social Services. We’ve met before. ROSEMARY: Hilary? Could I come in, please? HILARY: Go now. Out the back.
HILARY: You don’t get it, do you? I don’t want your fucking help. I’m not your patient. I’m not some problem to be solved. ROSEMARY: Hilary, I’m afraid if you don’t open the door, we are going to have to force entry. HILARY: Go. Now. HILARY: Do I make myself clear? Do I?
ROSEMARY: Hilary? Please open the door! HILARY: Oh, for goodness sake... HILARY: Just...go in there. And close the door. ROSEMARY: May we come in?
HILARY: Hello. RUBY: Hi.
DELIA: Hello. DELIA: It’s okay, you don’t need to leave, I’m just doing last check-ups. HILARY: No, I should go... I’ve got stuff I need to do, and it’s late and I don’t want to be a bother. HILARY: Bye, then.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 48 are women's.
369 lines from women, 403 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 22 men in the cast. 6 women and 14 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 31 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 48% of the words (2,931), men 52% (3,150).
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
11
Two men
24
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 41% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sam Mendes (man)
- Written by
- Sam Mendes (man)
- Produced by
- Pippa Harris (woman), Sam Mendes (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Lee Smith (man)
- Music by
- Trent Reznor (man), Atticus Ross (man)
- Production design by
- Mark Tildesley (man)
- Costumes by
- Alexandra Byrne (woman)
- Cast by
- Nina Gold (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
5 women, 5 men, 18 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 4 men, 13 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 0 men, 9 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 52 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Hannah Onslow 24, Olivia Colman 48, Tanya Moodie 50, Monica Dolan 53
Men
Micheal Ward 25, Tom Brooke 44, Toby Jones 56, Colin Firth 62, Ron Cook 74
Exhibit H: the money
It made 84% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $13.5 million
- Box office
- $11.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 187 scenes and 838 lines of dialogue. How the test works
