Passes the Bechdel test

Equity

Name: Equity
Released: 2016

2016. Directed by Meera Menon, written by Sarah Megan Thomas and Alysia Reiner and Amy Fox.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 22 scenes out of 158.
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

Naomi Bishop is an investment banker determined to overcome a previous stain to her professional reputation, which is a challenge in the male dominated financial sector she works in. As Naomi in that spirit makes her move managing a burgeoning new tech IPO, she has to endure not only the condescension of her colleagues, but also her imperious client even as troubling new developments cloud the venture's future. Against that, the probing of a college friend turned Federal investment law prosecutor and the conniving of her double-dealing boyfriend seem to be manageable complications, until a betrayal by a trusted colleague threatens to ruin everything.

Released: 29 Jul 2016
Genres: Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.6 / 10
Metascore: 68 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Naomi 262 lines, woman
Erin 119 lines, woman
Sam 119 lines, woman
Michael 95 lines, man
Ed 32 lines, man
Gabe 27 lines, man
Randall 27 lines, man
Benji 25 lines, man
Frank 19 lines, man
Melanie 18 lines, woman

Full cast, 29 people

Anna Gunn as Naomi Bishop
James Purefoy as Michael Connor
Sarah Megan Thomas as Erin Manning
Alysia Reiner as Samantha
Sophie von Haselberg as Marin
Craig Bierko as Benji Akers
Lee Tergesen as Randall
Margaret Colin as Attorney Cahn
Carrie Preston as Compliance Officer Abby
Michael Izquierdo as Trader
Nate Corddry as Cory
Nick Gehlfuss as Gabe
Samuel Roukin as Ed
Tracie Thoms as Melanie
James Naughton as John
Roe Hartrampf as Teddy
Carolyn McCormick as Naomi's Doctor
David Alan Basche as Ian
Joseph Siravo as Frank
Samrat Chakrabarti as Neel
Purva Bedi as Channing Trust Attorney
Ali Ahn as Julie
Meghan Rafferty as Leslie from HR
Jennifer Butler as NY Hotel Guest
Jeanine Bartel as Naomi's Assistant
Kyle Beltran as Bill
Neil Baltus as Lawyer
Jonathan Fredrick as Broker (uncredited)
Jeffrey Mowery as Lawyer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 158

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	5	4
5 to 8	9	10
9 to 12	17	0
13 to 16	20	10
17 to 20	27	4
21 to 24	4	4
25 to 28	20	13
29 to 32	2	0
33 to 36	24	14
37 to 40	22	19
41 to 44	49	6
45 to 48	14	38
49 to 52	38	11
53 to 56	38	17
57 to 60	15	11
61 to 64	20	14
65 to 68	15	6
69 to 72	0	12
73 to 76	3	4
77 to 80	10	11
81 to 84	32	6
85 to 88	25	5
89 to 92	2	0
93 to 96	28	20
97 to 100	9	4
101 to 104	3	6
105 to 108	28	0
109 to 112	12	8
113 to 116	15	4
117 to 120	15	12
121 to 124	4	2
125 to 128	1	3
129 to 132	0	1
133 to 136	10	6
137 to 140	6	4
141 to 144	6	0
145 to 148	15	4
149 to 152	4	7
153 to 156	3	2
157 to 158	5	3

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.

ASSISTANT: How was your weekend? NAOMI: Fine, thanks Gloria. ERIN: San Fran good? NAOMI: You read up on the companies? Which one stands out?

SAM: Naomi Bishop? NAOMI: Samantha Ryan. SAM: I thought you hated alumni events! NAOMI: Well, you know. Important to give back. Especially to mentor the--

ERIN: New specs. NAOMI: Terrific. ERIN: Is there anything else you need? NAOMI: I need my team to stay awake for the pitch tomorrow. Go on, get some rest.

NAOMI: When I was a kid, if you wanted privacy, if you wanted to send a secret message, you made invisible ink with vinegar. NAOMI: And when you were ready to “go public” you revealed your message with grape juice. ERIN: But Cachet has certainly taken privacy to the next level, and we are so pleased to have the chance to foster that growth. If you open your b…

ERIN: Hi, sorry-- NAOMI: Thanks.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 65 are women's.

575 lines from women, 305 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 15 men in the cast. 8 women and 16 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 915. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 22 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 67% of the words (5,437), men 33% (2,626). Women have 65% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

11 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 75% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Meera Menon (woman)
Written by: Amy Fox (woman)
Story by: Amy Fox (woman), Sarah Megan Thomas (woman), Alysia Reiner (woman)
Produced by: Alysia Reiner (woman), Sarah Megan Thomas (woman)
Shot by: Eric Lin (man)
Edited by: Andrew Hafitz (gender not listed)
Music by: Alexis Marsh (woman)
Production design by: Diane Lederman (woman)
Costumes by: Teresa Binder Westby (woman)
Cast by: Stephanie Holbrook (woman)