Passes the Bechdel test
Fantastic Four
2005. Directed by Tim Story, written by Mark Frost and Michael France and Stan Lee.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 174. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Four astronauts have their lives changed forever, when they end up being hit by a cloud of cosmic radiation. Reed Richards now has the ability to stretch his body like elastic. Sue Storm (Alba) is now the invisible woman. Johnny Storm becomes the human touch and Ben Grimm becomes the 'Thing', a man made out of rock. But there is one problem. The journey's sponsor, Victor Von Doom has also been affected and with full power, is a dangerous force which needs to be stopped, before it's too late.
- Released
- 08 Jul 2005
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 40 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 13 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Reed 179 lines, man
- Sue 149 lines, woman
- Ben 141 lines, man
- Victor 126 lines, man
- Johnny 112 lines, man
- Doom 32 lines, man
- Leonard 19 lines, man
- Alicia 17 lines, woman
- Ned Cecil 10 lines, man
- The Thing 9 lines, man
Full cast, 103 people
- Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards
- Jessica Alba as Sue Storm
- Chris Evans as Johnny Storm
- Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm
- Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom
- Hamish Linklater as Leonard
- Kerry Washington as Alicia Masters
- Laurie Holden as Debbie McIlvane
- David Parker as Ernie
- Kevin McNulty as Jimmy O'Hoolihan
- Maria Menounos as Sexy Nurse
- Michael Kopsa as Ned Cecil
- Andrew Airlie as Compound Doctor
- Pascale Hutton as Nightclub Girlfriend
- G. Michael Gray as Nightclub Boyfriend
- David Richmond-Peck as Gallery Patron
- Penelope Parkes as Bohemian Girl 1
- Aonika Laurent as Bohemian Girl 2
- Jason Schombing as Bridge Businessman
- Jason Diablo as NYPD Bridge Cop 1
- Colin Lawrence as NYPD Bridge Cop 2
- Paul Belsito as NYPD Bridge Cop 3
- Dee Jay Jackson as Chief Fireman
- Morgan Reynolds as Corvette Redhead
- Gina Holden as LV Receptionist
- Donavon Stinson as X Games Announcer
- Douglas Weston as Victor's Doctor
- Tony Alcantar as Compound Reporter #1
- Brenda Crichlow as Compound Reporter #2
- Peter Bryant as Lame Joke Businessman
- Lorena Gale as Old Lady With Car #1
- Danielle Dunn-Morris as Old Lady With Car #2
- Nicole Muñoz as Little Girl
- Daniel Bacon as Bridge Reporter
- Bobby Bysouth as Compound Reporter #3
- Kenny Bartram as Kenney Bartram / Cowboy Kenney
- Ronnie Renner as Ronnie Renner
- Brian Deegan as X Games Rider
- Marlaina Mah as Lusting Model
- Tre Verhoeven as Lusting Model
- Juanita Mirehouse as Lusting Model
- Stefanie Singer as Lusting Model
- Jamie Little as X Games Reporter
- Doug Abrahams as Truck Driver
- Ron Chartier as Hotel Guest
- Stan Lee as Willie Lumpkin
- Barbara Christabella as Girl in Park
- Sanja Banic as Girl in Park
- Ed Hodson as Construction Worker
- John Speredakos as Construction Worker
- Jason Kaufman as Cop
- Preston Thomas Peet as Goth Guy
- Steven Fulani Hart as Newsstand Pedestrian
- Bethann Schebece as Newsstand Pedestrian
- Lou Torres as Cab Driver
- Peggy Gormley as Homeless Woman
- Maurice Tyson as Homeless Guy
- Jaimie McVittie as Little Girl On Bridge
- Jenni Squair as Elevator Lady
- Lia Salmond as Elevator Lady
- Ellen Ewusie as Elevator Lady
- Ylenia Aurucci as Elevator Lady
- Michelle Zembruski as Elevator Lady
- Kathleen Mullan as Elevator Lady
- Georgia Dewson as Elevator Lady
- Sienna Rose as Storm's Fan
- Hector A. Leguillow as Newsstand Vendor
- Ben Mulroney as Etalk Daily CTV
- Terry David Mulligan as CityTV
- Lauren Sánchez Bezos as KCOP / KTTV
- Mark S. Allen as KMAX-TV(IND) Sacramento
- Jon Brady as Fox Network News
- Taryn Winter Brill as Aol.com
- Sara Edwards as The Comcast Network
- Heidi Eng as King-TV(NBC) Seattle
- Jim Ferguson as ABC-KGUN 9-TV Tucson
- Sam Hallenbeck as NBC Tampa
- Mike Waco as Fox Network News
- Marian Etoile Watson as UPN 9 / Fox
- Richard Ho as Wizard: The Comics Magazine
- Dave Holmes as FX
- Andrew Hunsaker as Yahoo Entertainment
- Taylor Johnson as MSN.com
- Bonnie Laufer-Krebs as Tribute TV
- Lisa Fuller Magee as KTVK-TV(IND) Phoenix
- Bret Martin as Fox 5 / WAGA Atlanta
- Liam Mayclem as KRON-TV(IND) San Francisco
- Scott Patrick as KUSA-TV(NBC) Denver
- Shaheem Reid as MTV News
- Sam Rubin as KTLA
- Maria Salas as NBC Entertainment Reporter Miami
- Devon Soltendieck as MuchMusic
- Patrick Stoner as WHYY-TV Philadelphia
- Lee Thomas as Fox 2 Detroit
- Tony Toscano as Talking Pictures / KJZZ-TV(IND) Salt Lake City
- Jennifer Lothrop as FX
- Doug Chapman as Fireman Hanging Off Bridge (uncredited)
- Sean Bennett as Newsstand Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Christopher Gordon as Fireman (uncredited)
- Richard Rigby as Cafe Patron / Party Goer (uncredited)
- Yvonne Myers as Principal (uncredited)
- Ralph Winter as Ship Worker (uncredited)
- Lynnanne Zager as Computer (voice) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 174
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 | 6 | 33 |
| 5 to 8 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 to 12 | 5 | 38 |
| 13 to 16 | 2 | 22 |
| 17 to 20 | 3 | 18 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 28 | 4 | 8 |
| 29 to 32 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 13 |
| 37 to 40 | 4 | 34 |
| 41 to 44 | 5 | 18 |
| 45 to 48 | 12 | 24 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 3 |
| 53 to 56 | 4 | 10 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 17 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 3 |
| 65 to 68 | 8 | 14 |
| 69 to 72 | 2 | 19 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 10 |
| 77 to 80 | 4 | 17 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 16 |
| 85 to 88 | 4 | 22 |
| 89 to 92 | 14 | 30 |
| 93 to 96 | 8 | 11 |
| 97 to 100 | 2 | 6 |
| 101 to 104 | 13 | 21 |
| 105 to 108 | 15 | 24 |
| 109 to 112 | 7 | 23 |
| 113 to 116 | 1 | 19 |
| 117 to 120 | 13 | 12 |
| 121 to 124 | 14 | 17 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 27 |
| 129 to 132 | 4 | 8 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 3 | 4 |
| 141 to 144 | 2 | 18 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 0 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 19 |
| 153 to 156 | 3 | 13 |
| 157 to 160 | 8 | 14 |
| 161 to 164 | 1 | 6 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 0 |
| 169 to 172 | 7 | 27 |
| 173 to 174 | 4 | 6 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
X-GAMES REPORTER: Which may explain why this woman's not smiling. SUE: I'm driving.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 23 are women's.
200 lines from women, 659 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
22 women and 40 men in the cast. 8 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 905.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 35 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (1,761), men 79% (6,519). Women have 23% 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
2
Two men
87
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tim Story (man)
- Written by
- Michael France (man), Mark Frost (man)
- Produced by
- Bernd Eichinger (man), Avi Arad (man), Ralph Winter (man)
- Shot by
- Oliver Wood (man)
- Edited by
- William Hoy (man)
- Music by
- John Ottman (man)
- Production design by
- Bill Boes (man)
- Costumes by
- Jose Fernandez (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Nancy Klopper (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
29 women, 81 men, 44 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 16 men, 16 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 17 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 8 men, 15 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 9 men, 10 not listed
-
Visual Effects
3 women, 4 men, 11 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 13 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jessica Alba 24, Kerry Washington 28, Laurie Holden 35
Men
Chris Evans 24, Hamish Linklater 28, Ioan Gruffudd 31, Julian McMahon 36, Michael Chiklis 41, Kevin McNulty 49
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $100 million
- Box office
- $334 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 174 scenes and 905 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
