Passes the Bechdel test
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
2019. Directed by Joe Berlinger, written by Elizabeth Kendall and Michael Werwie.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 163. -
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
A single mother believes she's found the man of her dreams. But their seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when he's arrested on suspected kidnapping charges and linked to multiple murders. Adamant that he's being framed, he defends himself in America's first nationally televised trial while she struggles to come to terms with the truth.
- Released
- 03 May 2019
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 52 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ted 280 lines, man
- Liz 129 lines, woman
- Carole Ann 35 lines, woman
- John O’Connell 27 lines, man
- Judge Cowart 24 lines, man
- Det. Mike Fisher 21 lines, man
- Joanna 19 lines, woman
- Larry Simpson 18 lines, man
- Jerry 17 lines, man
- David Yocom 12 lines, man
Full cast, 54 people
- Zac Efron as Ted Bundy
- Lily Collins as Liz Kendall
- Kaya Scodelario as Carole Anne Boone
- Jeffrey Donovan as Utah Defense Attorney John O'Connell
- Angela Sarafyan as Joanna
- Dylan Baker as Utah Prosecutor David Yocom
- Brian Geraghty as Florida Public Defender Dan Dowd
- Terry Kinney as Detective Mike Fisher
- Haley Joel Osment as Liz's Co-Worker Jerry
- James Hetfield as Officer Bob Hayward
- Grace Victoria Cox as Carol Daronch
- Jim Parsons as Florida Prosecutor Larry Simpson
- John Malkovich as Judge Edward D. Cowart
- Sydney Vollmer as Babysitter
- Macie Carmosino as 2 Yr Old Molly
- Ava Inman as 4 Yr Old Molly
- Morgan Pyle as 8 Yr Old Molly
- Richard K. Jones as Interrogation Room Sheriff
- Justin Inman as Police Lineup Suspect
- Alan B. Jones as Utah Judge Stewart Hanson
- Maya Berlinger as Concerned Library Co-Ed
- Derek Snow as Security Guard
- Leilani Barrett as Liz's Boss
- Ryan Wesley Gilreath as Deputy Westerlund
- Ken Strunk as Colorado Judge George Lohr
- Jared Joplin as Colorado District Attorney Frank Tucker
- Justin McCombs as Colorado Defense Attorney Jim Dumas
- Joe Berlinger as Colorado Jailhouse Reporter
- Brandon Trost as Colorado Jailhouse Cameraman
- Tim Young as Colorado Jailhouse Boom Op
- Torrie Wiggins as Woman w/Dog
- Chris Petty as Officer David Lee
- Kevin McClatchy as Sherriff Ken Katsaris
- Paul Kulis as Visitation Room Guard
- Michael Simkin as Florida Reporter
- Tess Talbot as Florida Public Defender Margaret Good
- David Myers Gregory as Bailiff Dave Watson
- Sarah Berlinger as Bundy Groupie #1
- Claire Sinofsky as Bundy Groupie #2
- Caroline Hurwitz as Bundy Groupie #3
- Savannah Rodin as Enchanted Girl
- James Harper as Detective Chapman
- Forba Shepherd as Louise Bundy
- Barry Mulholland as Dr. Richard Souviron
- Joey Boyd as Bribable Guard
- Ally Sereda as Liz's Secretary
- Grace Balbo as Teenage Molly
- Amy Greene as Ted Bundy Victim
- Chris Hahn as Utah Courthouse Bailiff
- Rajiim A. Gross as Metro Justice Journalist (uncredited)
- Calvin David Jones III as Utah Prisoner (uncredited)
- James Siderits as Prisoner's Attorney (uncredited)
- John E. Brownlee as Miami Prison Guard (uncredited)
- Jerry Mullins as Utah State Prisoner (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 163
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 | 22 | 27 |
| 5 to 8 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 to 20 | 1 | 10 |
| 21 to 24 | 22 | 24 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 6 |
| 29 to 32 | 4 | 14 |
| 33 to 36 | 9 | 31 |
| 37 to 40 | 5 | 5 |
| 41 to 44 | 6 | 8 |
| 45 to 48 | 18 | 47 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 53 to 56 | 11 | 11 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 9 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 9 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 1 |
| 77 to 80 | 2 | 0 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 7 |
| 85 to 88 | 10 | 19 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 8 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 3 |
| 97 to 100 | 15 | 4 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 12 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 14 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 14 |
| 117 to 120 | 8 | 14 |
| 121 to 124 | 8 | 7 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 7 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 38 |
| 133 to 136 | 3 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 4 | 32 |
| 141 to 144 | 17 | 36 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 7 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 1 |
| 153 to 156 | 2 | 1 |
| 157 to 160 | 1 | 7 |
| 161 to 163 | 19 | 14 |
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.
LIZ: We do need to get the sitter home by ten, but I thought I was dropping you at the law library to get ready for trial? CAROLE ANN: Welcome home, stranger.
LIZ: Ask her yourself... MOLLY: How’s Jamaica, Ted?
LIZ: Hello? JOANNA: Turn on the TV.
CAROLE ANN: Of course not, Bunny. But your lawyers have something important to discuss, I thought it would be best to have your family here too. LOUISE: I wouldn’t be able to live if I lost you. It would simply break my heart and never be put back together again.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.
200 lines from women, 486 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 25 men in the cast. 7 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 11 of 718.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (2,010), men 78% (7,147). Women have 29% 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
9
Two men
34
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 15 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joe Berlinger (man)
- Written by
- Michael Werwie (man)
- Produced by
- Ara Keshishian (gender not listed), Michael Simkin (gender not listed), Michael Costigan (man), Nicolas Chartier (man), Joe Berlinger (man), James Uminowicz (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Brandon Trost (man)
- Edited by
- Josh Schaeffer (man)
- Music by
- Marco Beltrami (man), Dennis Smith (man)
- Production design by
- Brandon Tonner-Connolly (man)
- Costumes by
- Megan Stark Evans (woman)
- Cast by
- Neely Eisenstein (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 9 men, 22 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 9 men, 11 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 2 men, 11 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 0 men, 12 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kaya Scodelario 27, Lily Collins 30, Angela Sarafyan 35
Men
Zac Efron 31, Haley Joel Osment 31, Brian Geraghty 44, Jeffrey Donovan 50, James Hetfield 55, Dylan Baker 59, Terry Kinney 65
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 163 scenes and 718 lines of dialogue. How the test works
