Passes the Bechdel test

First Man

Name: First Man
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Damien Chazelle, written by Josh Singer and James R. Hansen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
9 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 183.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

A Biopic on the life of the legendary American Astronaut Neil Armstrong from 1961-1969, on his journey to becoming the first human to walk the moon. Exploring the sacrifices and costs on the Nation and Neil himself, during one of the most dangerous missions in the history of space travel.

Released: 12 Oct 2018
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 84 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 32 wins & 193 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Neil 245 lines, man
Ed 74 lines, man
Deke 69 lines, man
Buzz 63 lines, man
Janet 60 lines, woman
Dave Scott 39 lines, man
Pat 24 lines
Gilruth 22 lines, man
Lovell 22 lines, man
Mike Collins 22 lines, man

Full cast, 90 people

Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong
Claire Foy as Janet Shearon
Jason Clarke as Ed White
Kyle Chandler as Deke Slayton
Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin
Patrick Fugit as Elliot See
Christopher Abbott as David Scott
Ciarán Hinds as Robert R. Gilruth
Olivia Hamilton as Patricia White
Pablo Schreiber as Jim Lovell
Shea Whigham as Gus Grissom
Lukas Haas as Michael Collins
Ethan Embry as Pete Conrad
Brian d'Arcy James as Joseph A. Walker
Cory Michael Smith as Roger B. Chaffee
Kris Rey as Marilyn See
Gavin Warren as Young Rick Armstrong
Luke Winters as Older Rick Armstrong
Connor Blodgett as Mark Armstrong
Lucy Stafford as Karen Armstrong
J.D. Evermore as Christopher C. Kraft Jr.
Leon Bridges as Gil-Scott Heron
Steve Coulter as Guenter Wendt
Skyler Bible as Richard F. Gordon Jr.
William Gregory Lee as Gordon Cooper
Choppy Guillotte as John Young
Braydyn Nash Helms as Young Ed White Jr.
Edmund Grant as Older Ed White Jr.
Callie Brown as Young Bonnie White
Claire Smith as Older Bonnie White
Brady Smith as Butch Butchart
John David Whalen as John Glenn
Matthew Glave as Chuck Yeager
Rodney J. Hobbs as X-15 Flight Surgeon
Kermit Rolison as George Mueller
Willie Repoley as Jim Fucci
Ben Owen as John Hodge
Jim Stearns as David Hammock
James H. Williams as Pastor
Helen S. Jackson as Louise Sheron
Ambrit Millhouse as Syringe Tech
Mark Armstrong as Paul Haney
Kevin Buttimer as MSC Entrance Guard
Dustin Lewis as Ralph Morse
Robert Hatch as Joe Schmitt
Anna Chazelle as White House Staffer
Tyner Rushing as White House Staffer
Myra Brown as White House Attendant
Ronald Hicks as White House Attendee
Lawrence Jonasson as White House Attendee
Irina Labouz as White House Attendee
Anthony Paolucci as Jim
Philip Boyd as Reporter
Stephanie Turner as Kelsey
Timothy Batten as ABC Reporter
Aurelien Gaya as Agence France Reporter
Todd Truley as Houston Post Reporter
Mark Kelly as Reporter - Apollo 11
Tim Olcott as Reporter - Apollo 11
Andrea Maria Hintermaier as Hamburg Press
Jamie Anne Allman as Times Reporter
Charles Carroll as Senator
Brian Mahoney as Fire Inspector
Donald Watkins as Protestor
Tess Oakland as Diner Patron
Michael Lee Kimel as Bill Moon
Ryan Clay Forbes as Bill Anders
Joshua Powell as MC Engineer
Thomas Clay Strickland as MC Engineer
Brad Kitchen as Assistant Flight Director
Tim Harper as Flight Activities Director
Andrew Armstrong as Booster Flight Controller
Kevin Johnson as CSQ Agena Systems
Damian Lovello as CSQ Gemini Systems
Nelson Bonilla as NASA PAO
Shawn Eric Jones as Wally Schirra (uncredited)
Andrew Stahl as Ken Mattingly
Mark Kirkman as MCC Fido
Brian David McCay as MCC Retro
Mark Schlichting as MCC GNC
Mark Yurgil as MCC EECOM
Andrew Buckman as MCC Guidance
Christopher Sgubin as MCC Network
Greg Puckett as Charles Berry (uncredited)
Perry Zulu Jr. as Robert Lawrence (uncredited)
Katelyn Davis as Sally See (uncredited)
George Linkenback as Col. Frank Borman (uncredited)
Milton Saul as Reporter (uncredited)
Aaron J. Brooks as NASA Pilot (uncredited)
Robert Tinsley as NASA Engineer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 183

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	1	43
5 to 8	0	12
9 to 12	0	0
13 to 16	4	16
17 to 20	4	45
21 to 24	3	14
25 to 28	0	11
29 to 32	0	6
33 to 36	3	8
37 to 40	2	2
41 to 44	4	8
45 to 48	7	24
49 to 52	3	34
53 to 56	0	17
57 to 60	5	21
61 to 64	3	8
65 to 68	3	13
69 to 72	2	7
73 to 76	0	6
77 to 80	2	17
81 to 84	0	19
85 to 88	0	6
89 to 92	0	18
93 to 96	0	11
97 to 100	3	19
101 to 104	0	5
105 to 108	3	20
109 to 112	3	37
113 to 116	4	22
117 to 120	4	26
121 to 124	1	13
125 to 128	3	14
129 to 132	1	29
133 to 136	1	26
137 to 140	0	8
141 to 144	5	16
145 to 148	1	9
149 to 152	0	6
153 to 156	0	28
157 to 160	0	16
161 to 164	0	47
165 to 168	0	7
169 to 172	0	9
173 to 176	0	3
177 to 180	1	3
181 to 183	0	9

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.

JANET: It would’ve been worse if I hadn’t. MARILYN: Well, sure. But you’re just handling this so well. Both of you.

JANET: Yes, I’m sure it’ll take up a lot of your time. MARILYN: What are you laughing at?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 9 are women's.

76 lines from women, 738 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

9 women and 46 men in the cast. 6 women and 47 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 49 of 955. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 151 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 (617), men 92% (7,378). Women have 9% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Damien Chazelle (man)
Written by: Josh Singer (man)
Produced by: Isaac Klausner (man), Marty Bowen (man), Wyck Godfrey (man), Damien Chazelle (man)
Shot by: Linus Sandgren (man)
Edited by: Tom Cross (man)
Music by: Justin Hurwitz (man)
Production design by: Nathan Crowley (man)
Costumes by: Mary Zophres (woman)
Cast by: Francine Maisler (woman)